Eni has announced a large gas discovery at the Geliga-1 exploration well in the Ganal block in the Kutei Basin offshore Indonesia, around 70 km from the East Kalimantan coast.
In a statement issued on 20 April 2026, Eni said preliminary estimates indicate around 5 Tcf of gas in place and 300 million barrels of condensate in the encountered interval.
The Geliga-1 well was drilled by the Deep Value Driller drillship to a total depth of about 5,100 m in water depth of around 2,000 m. The well encountered a significant gas column in the targeted Miocene interval, which Eni said showed strong petrophysical properties. A Drill Stem Test is planned to assess reservoir productivity.
The result extends Eni’s recent exploration success in the Kutei Basin. It follows the Geng North discovery made in late 2023, about 20 km south of Geliga, and the Konta-1 discovery announced in December 2025.
The announcement also comes after final investment decisions for the Gendalo and Gandang gas project in the South Hub and for the Geng North and Gehem fields in the North Hub. The North Hub project is set to use a newly built FPSO with handling capacity of 1 bscfd of gas and 90,000 bpd of condensate, together with the existing Bontang LNG Plant.
Eni said studies are under way on accelerated development options, supported by the discovery’s proximity to existing and planned infrastructure. The company said this could create synergies in both time-to-market and cost optimisation. The new discovery is also adjacent to the undeveloped Gula gas discovery, which holds 2 Tcf of gas in place and 75 million barrels of condensate.
Initial assessments indicate the combined Geliga and Gula resources could support an additional 1 bscfd of gas and 80,000 bpd of condensate. This could, among other options, support the establishment of a third production hub in the Kutei Basin using a fast-track model based on the North Hub development concept. Eni is also studying whether Bontang can be further expanded with additional liquefaction capacity beyond what is already planned under the North Hub development, extending the plant’s operating life.
Over the past six months, Eni has drilled four other exploration wells in the same basin. The campaign is set to continue with one additional well in 2026 and two more in 2027.
The Ganal PSC is operated by Eni, which holds an 82% interest, while Sinopec holds the remaining 18%. The block is part of a 19-block portfolio—14 in Indonesia and five in Malaysia—to be contributed to Searah, the jointly controlled company announced by Eni and Petronas in November 2025. The transaction is expected to close within Q2 2026.
