Natuna Sea News

Esgian reports various drilling contractors disclosing details of discussions with Saudi Aramco regarding jackup contract suspensions in its Week 14 Rig Analytics Market Roundup. These contractors include Shelf Drilling, ADES, Borr Drilling, Arabian Drilling, COSL, and ARO Drilling.Meanwhile, Transocean, Noble, and COSL rigs have firmed up new work in the US Gulf of Mexico, Suriname, and the North Sea, respectively.Report overview:ContractsShelf Drilling has received a notice of suspension of operations on four jackup rigs from a customer in the Middle East.

Indonesia's coast guard said on Tuesday it seized an Iranian-flagged supertanker suspected of involvement in the illegal transshipment of crude oil, and vowed to toughen maritime patrols.The MT Arman 114 was carrying 272,569 metric tons of light crude oil, valued at 4.6 trillion rupiah ($304 million), when it was seized last week, the Indonesian authorities said.The Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) was suspected of transferring oil to another vessel without a permit on Friday, the Southeast Asian nation's maritime security agency said.The vessel was captured after being spotted in Indonesia's North Natuna Sea, carrying out a ship-to-ship oil transfer with the Cameroon-flagged MT S Tinos, the agency's chief, Aan Kurnia, said.

Indonesia has deployed a warship to its North Natuna Sea to monitor a Chinese coast guard vessel that has been active in a resource-rich maritime area, the country's naval chief said on Saturday of an area that both countries claim as their own.Ship tracking data shows the vessel, CCG 5901, has been sailing in the Natuna Sea, particularly near the Tuna Bloc gas field and the Vietnamese Chim Sao oil and gas field since Dec. 30, the Indonesian Ocean Justice Initiative told Reuters.A warship…

Indonesian navy has increased patrols around its Natuna islands in the South China Sea after Chinese and U.S. vessels were detected nearby in international waters, despite saying there were no disturbance from the vessels, a navy official said on Thursday.Five navy vessels, assisted by an air patrol, have been deployed in North Natuna Sea to secure the area, Indonesian Navy western fleet commander Arsyad Abdullah told reporters.“The Navy’s position on the North Natuna Sea is very…

Indonesia has increased patrols around islands near the disputed South China Sea after a Chinese coast guard vessel "trespassed" into Indonesia's exclusive economic zone, authorities said on Friday.The Chinese vessel entered waters off the coast of the northern Natuna islands in mid-December, leading Indonesian foreign ministry to issue a “strong protest” and summon the Chinese ambassador in Jakarta.Speaking in Beijing on Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang…

Vietnam's foreign minister has asked his Indonesian counterpart to investigate and clarify reports that the Indonesian navy shot and wounded two Vietnamese fishermen in the South China Sea, the foreign ministry said on Friday. Pham Binh Minh told Indonesian foreign minister Retno Marsudi by telephone that the reported incident was "very serious ... and not appropriate with the strategic partnership relationship between Vietnam and Indonesia," the Vietnamese foreign ministry said in a statement. "Vietnam is deeply concerned about this incident and proposes Indonesia to quickly investigate and clarify the incident and inform Vietnam of the results and to stop repeating similar acts," Minh was quoting as saying.

Indonesia renamed the northern reaches of its exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea as the North Natuna Sea on Friday, the latest act of resistance by Southeast Asian nations to China's territorial ambitions in the maritime region. Seen by analysts as an assertion of Indonesian sovereignty, part of the renamed sea is claimed by China under its contentious maritime boundary, known as the 'nine-dash line', that encompasses most of the resource-rich sea. Several Southeast Asian states dispute China's territorial claims and are competing with China to exploit the South China Sea's abundant hydrocarbon and fishing resources. China has raised the ante by deploying military assets on artificial islands constructed on shoals and reefs in disputed parts of the sea.

President of Indonesia Joko Widodo, commonly known as Jokowi,  has vowed to transform Indonesia, which includes 17,000 islands into a ‘maritime power’, and also includes plans to improve port infrastructure, as well as plans to fund a massive infrastructure programme, according to Bloomberg. Indonesia announced on Wednesday evening that it will seek to change the name of the South China Sea to the Natuna Sea in the area within 200 miles of its Natuna Islands, reports SCMP. Ahmad Santosa, the Chief of Task Force 115, an agency combating illegal fishing, said the proposal will “be given to the United Nations”, adding that “if no one objects ... then it will be officially the Natuna Sea”.

Indonesian navy officials detained a Chinese boat along with seven Chinese crew members for allegedly fishing in Indonesian maritime territory in the disputed South China Sea region, Ap reported quoting Indonesia's navy spokesman. The Indonesian warship KRI Imam Bonjol-383 responded to a report from maritime air surveillance officials that 12 foreign fishing boats were illegally working in the Natuna Sea, First Admiral Edi Sucipto said. The navy's warships spotted the China-flagged Yueyandong Yu 19038 fishing boat in Indonesia's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) during a naval exercise on Friday. An EEZ is a zone extending 200 nautical miles…

Indonesia has no conflict with China over the South China Sea, an Indonesian palace spokesman said on Wednesday, days after eight Chinese crew members were detained for allegedly fishing illegally in the Natuna Sea. "There is no conflict between Indonesia and China related to the South China Sea," said presidential spokesman Johan Budi told reporters. The Natuna Sea is an area between Peninsular Malaysia and the Malaysian province of Sarawak on Borneo island, at the southern end of the South China Sea. Indonesia has raised concerns in the past that China's claims in the South China Sea include waters near the Natuna Islands. China has accepted Indonesia's sovereignty over the islands.

ConocoPhillips Indonesia, a unit of U.S.-based ConocoPhillips , posted an 11 percent rise in crude oil output in the first quarter of this year at 10,000 barrels of oil per day, said Director Daren Beaudo. The firm also said its liquefied natural gas (LNG) output reached 5,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, up 25 percent from 4,000 bopd a year earlier. ConocoPhillips Indonesia produces crude and gas from its two blocks - South Natuna Sea Block B and Corridor South Sumatra block. (Kontan) Note: Reuters has not verified this story and does not vouch for its accuracy. (Compiled by Jakarta Newsroom; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)

International Salvage Union (ISU) President Arnold Witte had called on all sectors of the shipping and insurance industries to approach the issue of salvage and spill prevention with “fresh thinking and open minds.” Speaking at the ISU’s Associate Members’ Day conference in London on April 2, he said the cost of failure to prevent pollution can run into billions. Against this background he urged the P&I community – responsible for payment of pollution claims – to accept that new approaches to reward for salvage and spill prevention have a significant role to play in reducing the financial impact of pollution claims and, at the same time, contributing to lower levels of ecological and economic damage.

An oil slick in the Singapore Strait from the damaged tanker Natuna Sea has been dispersed and remaining oil on the vessel was being transferred, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said on Wednesday. The 5,249 ft. x 2,625 ft. (1,600 x 800 m) oil slick, which had escaped preventive booms placed around the vessel, had been successfully treated with dispersants, an MPA spokeswoman said. At least 7,000 tons of crude oil from estimated total of 40,400 tons was spilled after the Panama-registered tanker ran aground early on Tuesday in Indonesian waters off Batu Berhanti Beacon, approximately five miles south of Singapore. The slick had been heading in a southwesterly direction towards southern Sumatra in Indonesia.

Seadrill has agreed to a new assignment with Premier Natuna Sea BV in Indonesia for the jack-up Seadrill 5. The assignment is for five wells offshore Indonesia and commencement is scheduled for May 2007 in direct continuation of the rig's current commitments with APD. The duration of the contract is estimated at 135 days with a corresponding contract value of approximately $26.3m.