Publications

Indonesia’s evolving energy landscape is driven by an increasing need for secure and diversified energy sources. Eastern Indonesia, particularly the regions of Papua and Maluku, remains largely underexplored, despite possessing substantial untapped resources that hold promise for significantly enhancing national energy security. In contrast to the more developed western regions, Eastern Indonesia’s reserves offer an opportunity to diversify Indonesia’s energy portfolio. This paper examines the prospects for sustainable oil and gas exploration in Papua and Maluku, with a focus on geological potential, exploration challenges, and essential sustainable practices, utilizing the Play-Based Exploration (PBE) approach. This methodology brings efficiency to the upstream oil and gas industry, streamlining costly and labor-intensive exploration through play-based analysis. The collaborative playmap in this study highlights areas with source rock, matured kitchen, reservoir, and seal potential up to hydrocarbon types within Papua and Maluku, providing a strategic overview of petroleum system in each interval. This enables industry stakeholders to concentrate efforts on targeted work areas with greater precision. This study unlocks a new basin concept and new petroleum system potential in Eastern Indonesia. Papua and Maluku’s potential could mirror successes achieved in regions like Sumatra and Java. Implementing Play-Based Exploration in Papua and Maluku could reduce reliance on oil and gas import and will support a stable, long-term energy supply for Eastern Indonesia.