Gas remains a much sought after commodity due to its strong role in Asia’s energy mix, and Conrad Asia Energy is poised to list on the ASX with the goal of discovering and developing gas to help meet this demand which is forecast to be the strongest in the world. 

Central to this ambition is the Mako gas field within its 76.5% owned Duyung production sharing contract (PSC), which with a best estimate resource of 413 billion cubic feet of gas from extensive appraisal work carried out since 2017 is one of the largest undeveloped gas fields in Indonesia’s prolific West Natuna Basin.

The company also holds the offshore Mangkalihat PSC and has the right to match the bidding process for both the Offshore North West Aceh and Offshore South West Aceh in Aceh Province where it has completed joint studies. The Joint Study areas contain existing discoveries and major exploratory potential which could add significant value in the future.

Both areas have been gazetted as PSCs in a future licensing round.

This portfolio of oil and gas licences across Indonesia ensures the company is well positioned to meet Asian demand, which makes more than a third of oil and more than a fifth of the world’s gas demand.

Specifically, Conrad is targeting the Singapore market, where natural gas has accounted for 95% of power generation since 2014 – though the ability to displace coal-fired power generation elsewhere is also very much on the cards.

Well credentialed leadership

To help achieve these objectives, the company has also assembled a board and management team with a wide range of experience in technical, operational and financial roles in the oil and gas sector.

Chairing the board is veteran oil and gas executive Peter Botten who led Oil Search from a $200m company in 1994 to a peak of $15bn before retiring in 2020.

Besides a stint as chairman of AGL, Botten is also a director of Karoon Energy and Aurelia Minerals bringing extensive worldwide experience in the oil and gas industry to the table.

At the company’s helm is managing director Miltos Xynogalas – a geoscientist with over 30 years’ of upstream (exploration and development) experience, at least half of which was gained in Indonesia.

Prior to founding Conrad, Miltos worked for Shell International, Premier Oil and Transworld Oil in various roles ranging from technical and operational to supervisory and managerial, and was involved in major discoveries in South East and West Africa.

Other notables include executive director David Johnson, who has 41 year’s exploration and production experience, Paul Bernard – a retired Goldman Sach’s partner and private investor, Jeremy Brest who is the founder and managing director of Singapore boutique corporate finance advisory firm Framework Capital Solutions, and Mario Traviati – the founding partner of Great Bear Petroleum and first vice president – head of energy research Asia Pacific at Merrill Lynch.

conrad asia energy
Location of Conrad Asia Energy’s projects (map not to scale) Pic: Supplied

Project overview

Conrad’s flagship asset is the 927km2 Duyung PSC in the Riau Islands Province and the advanced Mako gas field.

The company is working with the Government of Indonesia on a revised plan of development to accommodate greater gas volumes and production rates. This envisions 12 years of production from 2025.

It will also seek to bring Mako through front-end engineering and design (FEED) to a final investment decision by the middle of 2023 and negotiate gas sales agreements with potential buyers in Singapore and Indonesia.

The offshore Mangkalihat PSC covers 1,640km2 in the Tarakan Basin, northeast Kalimantan, and consists of two small areas in the south and a single larger block in the north

Conrad has identified leads that it intends to explore through the acquisition of further seismic, which could in turn lead to exploration drilling.

Meanwhile, the two JSAs located offshore northwest Sumatra within the Aceh Province cover a combined area of about 20,000 square kilometres, with each area containing gas discoveries.

The Indonesian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources closed bid submissions for PSCs in early September 2022 with the PSC contracts expected to be signed during early December 2022.

Initial public offering

With its initial public offering successfully raising $45m through issue of 30.8 million CDIs priced at $1.46 each, Conrad is cashed up to fund development of the Mako gas field.

This includes completing the FEED study and acquiring long-lead items such as the subsea wellheads and other related equipment and structural steel.

Proceeds will also be used for growth and to evaluate new assets.

The company will trade on the ASX under the code CRD.

 

 

 

This article was developed in collaboration with Conrad Asia Energy, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

 

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.

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