Wednesday, 21 May, 2025 / Edition 59

It was fun watching our family favorite golfer Scottie Scheffler battle a strong challenge from Spaniard Jon Rahm to win his first PGA Championship. It was such a moving scene to see Scheffler embrace his wife Meredith and 1-year-old son Bennett—a picture of family, love, and sports.

Now, let’s take a look at some energy news from the past week.

Shangyou Nie

Editor, Well Read

Asia Re-Attracts International Exploration and Production Players

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As many energy companies refocus on the oil and gas business, countries in the Asia Pacific region are re-attracting investors in E&P. TotalEnergies and Chevron will reportedly join E&P assets in Indonesia, while Korea’s KNOC just farmed into an Australia exploration venture.

The latest investments in Asia Pacific:

• According to Upstream, Total is in talks to farm into 25 percent of Petronas’ Bobara production sharing contract in offshore Indonesia.

• Chevron is considering returning to Indonesia E&P, according to a social media post by the head of Indonesia’s upstream regulator SKK Migas, Djoko Siswanto.

  • “I just got the information that Chevron Upstream Business confirmed it will return to Indonesia,” posted Siswanto.

  • Chevron has not commented on the details or validity of this post.

• ENI announced that its Merakes East gas and condensate field started production in the Kutei Basin, offshore Indonesia. ENI is one of the largest foreign investors in the country.

• On 18 May, Indonesia’s state company Pertamina is inviting companies to farm into six assets in the country.

• Australian company 3D Energi (20 percent) announced last week that Korean National Oil Corp. (KNOC) farmed into 29 percent of two blocks, operated by ConocoPhillips (51 percent) in the Otway Basin in southeast Australia.

Driving the news: Improved regulatory environment, strong energy demand, higher gas prices, recent exploration success, and FIDs for large gas projects are quoted as reasons why Indonesia is re-attracting international players.

TotalEnergies investment details: According to an analysis by Rystad Energy, TotalEnergies plans to augment its gas and LNG presence in Asia through M&A or exploration.

Petronas investment details:

• Petronas E&P, a Petronas subsidiary, signed a 30-year Bobara PSC in May 2024 for 100 percent equity. The large block is 8,400 square kilometers and is the first Petronas-operated block in Indonesia.

• Initial commitment for Petronas in the PSC includes $16.9 million for geological and geophysical studies.

ENI investment details:

• ENI has a strategic plan to shift its production to 60 percent gas by 2030, and it sees Indonesia as a key country to help achieve that target.

• In July 2023, ENI bought Chevron’s interests in Indonesia, including operatorship and high interest (62–72 percent) in three PSCs in Kutei Basin, offshore Indonesia.

KNOC investment details: KNOC has E&P investments in 11 foreign countries. Australia will become its 12th country.

What they’re saying: “We’re definitely seeing renewed interest from global E&P in Indonesia’s exploration space,” said Prateek Pandey, Rystad’s regional research head for APAC region.

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Aramco Signed MoUs and Agreements Potentially Worth $90 billion During Trump Visit

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During President Trump’s visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia last week, Aramco signed 34 Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) and other agreements, valued at $90 billion—from LNG equity and purchases to AI and low carbon technology.

Key energy deals signed: Based on an announcement from Aramco, key upstream/LNG deals signed during the visit include:

• A final agreement with NextDecade to purchase 1.2 million tonnes per annum of LNG from Train 4 in the Rio Grande LNG project. The contract term is 20 years.

• An MoU with Sempra Infrastructure for equity and offtake in Port Arthur LNG Phase 2.

• A collaboration agreement with Australia’s Woodside Energy to explore global opportunities, including LNG equity and offtake for Louisiana LNG, which took FID recently.

• Four downstream deals with Honeywell, Motiva, Afton Chemical, and ExxonMobil from plant expansion to technology licensing

• Sixteen agreements for procurement and services with “strategic U.S. suppliers,” including SLB, Baker Hughes, McDermott, Halliburton, Weatherford International, KBR, and Honeywell

• Two MoUs and one Strategic Framework agreement with Nvidia, Qualcomm, and Amazon for technology and services

Background:

• The deals were announced during the United States-Saudi investment forum held in Riyadh last Tuesday during President Trump’s four-day visit, according to the WSJ.

• According to the White House, the deals signed in Saudi Arabia were part of President Trump’s first official trip to the Middle East, “locking in over $2 trillion in great deals,” with Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

  • A key part of the United Arab Emirates-United States deals is joint investment in large, U.S.-based data centers

  • The biggest components of the Qatar-United States deals are between Qatar Airways and Boeing and pertain to drones and anti-drone defense systems, according to Arab News.

What they are saying:

• “(The) announcements show the breadth and depth of Aramco’s long history of partnerships with U.S. companies since the first discovery of oil in the kingdom more than 90 years ago,” said Amin Nasser, CEO, Aramco.

• The AI agreement between the United Arab Emirates and the United States “includes the United Arab Emirates committing to invest in, build, or finance U.S. datacenters that are at least as large and as powerful as those in the United Arab Emirates,” said the White House via a statement.

What’s next: MoUs tend to define common interest areas to cooperate and need further negotiations to become legally binding agreements.

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✉️ To get in touch with Shangyou, send an email to editorial@aapg.org.