Italian energy firm Eni has started gas production from the Maha field in the Kutei Basin, offshore Indonesia, to supply the domestic market and the Pertamina-operated Bontang liquefaction plant.
Eni announced the start of production on Friday, 21 months after the final investment decision (FID).
Located in the West Ganal block at a water depth of approximately 1,000 m, the field comprises two subsea production wells connected to the existing Jangkrik floating production unit (FPU) by approximately 12 km of flowlines.
Following initial processing onboard the FPU, the gas will be transported through the pipeline network to supply the domestic market and the Bontang liquefaction plant, which supplies LNG to both domestic and export markets, Eni said.
According to Eni, the field can produce 250 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd), bringing combined production from the Jangkrik FPU and the South Hub to a plateau of 750 mmscfd.
The Gendalo and Gendang project’s expected start-up and tie-in to the Jangkrik FPU in 2028 will extend this plateau beyond the end of the decade.
The Maha gas field, now operated by Searah, the independent upstream energy company established through the strategic partnership between Eni and Petronas, marks a further milestone in the development of Eni’s activities in Indonesia’s Kutei Basin.
Together with the final investment decisions announced in March 2026 for the North Hub (Geng North and Gehem) and South Hub (Gendalo and Gendang) projects, the timely execution and start-up of production at Maha, following the start-up of Merakes East in May 2025, underscore Eni’s broader strategy to “efficiently develop the gas resources discovered in Indonesia’s prolific Kutei Basin, supporting the nation’s long-term energy security and export capacity,” the company said.
Maha is a “key” component of the South Hub development and the monetization of Indonesia’s offshore gas resources.
Eni directly operates the Peri-Mahakam PSC, the Makassar Strait PSC and the recently awarded Sapukala block.
In October 2026, Eni also signed two binding agreements to sell interests to Pertamina and Medco in selected Indonesian upstream assets operated by Searah.