Canada-based oil and gas company Valeura Energy has restarted production from an oil field project in the Gulf of Thailand
the Canadian player is looking forward to kicking off its three-well drilling program on the field
the oil production at the field resumed safely on December 8
The Canadian firm intends to mobilize its contracted drilling rig to the field in the coming days
further wells will be brought online to ramp up production volumes
The company plans to conduct an infill drilling program
encompassing three production-oriented horizontal development wells
targeting deeper reservoir intervals within the field
commented: “I am pleased to see production operations resume at the Wassana field
The immediate contribution of production is a welcome addition to our portfolio
with all aspects of the field now being conducted in accordance with our high standards for operational excellence
we are turning our attention immediately to growth
“We have a brief window of opportunity in our overall drilling sequence plan to drill three wells at Wassana commencing later this month
which we anticipate will increase production capacity to over 4,000 bbl/d
before re-deploying the rig to our Nong Yao C development early in 2024.”
Back in November 2022, Valeura handed over a letter of award (LOA) to PT Buana Lingas Lautan (Buana) for the charter of the MT Vula tanker – renamed MT Jaka Tarub – which would be used as an FSO vessel for the production from the oil field
The re-certification of the Wassana field’s MOPU Ingenium – amounting to a formal life extension of the facility – was completed last year
the Wassana field’s oil storage and offloading vessel
remains owned by the Buana Lintas Lautan Group and is chartered by Valeura to store crude oil produced from the field
an energy service company offering complete asset life cycle expertise covering various facets of the global upstream industry
has been appointed to operate the vessel for the remaining duration of its charter
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CALGARY, Canada — Valeura Energy has restarted oil production at the Wassana Field offshore Gulf of Thailand
A contracted rig will mobilize shortly to start an infill drilling program comprising three horizontal development wells targeting deeper reservoir intervals
The campaign is designed to raise production above 4,000 bbl/d
The rig will then relocate to start Valeura’s Nong Yao C development early in 2024
“Our team is also working toward a potential longer-term redevelopment of the Wassana Field
to commercialize the two appraisal discoveries we made in third-quarter 2023 by adding reserves and expanding the overall capacity of the field…We anticipate taking a final decision on the expansion in 2024.”
Valeura has chartered the Wassana FSO MT Jaka Tarub oil tanker from the Buana Lintas Lautan Group
and it is chartered to store the produced crude
Three60 Energy Group has taken over operations for the remainder of the charter period
Indonesian children's bedtime stories used to be dominated by folktales
Remember the story of Bandung Bondowoso building one thousand temples in one night to win the hands of Roro Jonggarang (in Javanese mythology the origin story of Yogyakarta's Prambanan Temple)
stealing a shawl from an angel bathing in a lake so she would come back to him (Joko Tarub's descendants according to another myth founded Java's great Mataram kingdom in the 17th century)
Now in the age of YouTube, Netflix, My Little Pony and We Bare Bears, folktales have lost their magic, leading some local publishers to publish folktale picture books that bowdlerize some of the stories's unsavory, non-child-friendly elements to attract readers
local folktales generally display one or more of these four main themes: obedience
Veteran book editor Bambang Trimansyah also said in an opinion piece in Kedaulatan Rakyat that some local folktale themes are not suitable for young readers
There have been few efforts to reimagine these problematic tales for the modern readers
poet Toeti Heraty published a feminist reinterpretation of the Balinese tale "Calon Arang." The book of lyrical prose was titled "Calon Arang: Kisah Perempuan Korban Patriarki" ("Calon Arang: Tale of a Female Victim of Patriarchy")
Let’s noq take a look at five of the most popular Indonesian folktales
Finding a way to retell them should start with reading them
"Bawang Merah Bawang Putih" ("Shallot and Garlic") is a Cinderella-type story of good versus evil and very popular in Indonesia and Malaysia
Bawang Merah and Bawang Putih are half-sisters who are polar opposites of each other
greedy girl spoiled by their mother while Bawang Putih is obedient
diligent and does all the chores without complaint
The old woman says she will return the scarf if Bawang Putih cooks and cleans for her
gets the scarf back and the old woman as a gift tells her to bring home one of her two pumpkins
she discovers the fruit is filled with jewelry
Bawang Merah and their mother get jealous and want their own pumpkin filled with jewelery
so they go to the river and deliberately lose their scarves
Then they visit the old woman’s house and ask for a pumpkin
The story has been adapted many times into stage plays
it was made into an Indonesian soap opera (sinetron) set in contemporary Indonesia
Bawang Merah and Bawang Putih became high-school teens
and Nia Ramadhani played Siska (Bawang Merah) whose mother is a poor widow
There was an additional character named Ferdi
a boy trapped in a love triangle with Alya and Siska
The series bagged the "Most Favorite Sinetron" award at the 2005 Panasonic Gobel Awards
It was then screened on Malaysia’s TV3 in 2006-2007
The original "Malin Kundang" story is set at a specific location
Malin Kundang tells the story of an ungrateful son who is cursed into stone by his mother
you can see a stone believed to be the cursed Malin Kundang because it is shaped like a person face-down on his knees begging for forgiveness
Another folktale from West Kalimantan called "Batu Menangis" ("The Crying Stone") has a story very similar to Malin Kundang
but no "crying stone" has ever been discovered in the area
There are some differences between the two stories
He sails the world to get more money to support his mother
vain Malin now refuses to be associated with his poor mother
That's when the mother prays for him to be transformed into stone
Batu Menangis's main character is a spoiled girl who never lifts a finger to help her mother
she keeps saying to people that the mother is actually her maid
Mother finally has enough and prays to God that the girl is turned into stone
"Timun Mas" ("Golden Cucumber") features a brave young girl who escapes the clutches of a giant called Buto Ijo ("The Green Giant")
It starts with a childless old widow living by herself
Buto Ijo gives her a large cucumber and asks her to promise to give her first child to him to devour
She names her Timun Mas and forgets about her promise
Buto Ijo drops by the old woman’s house asking her to fulfill her promise
packing her a supply of magic cucumber seeds
Buto Ijo chases Timun Mas but she always manages to escape by deploying her mother's magic tricks
Buto Ijo is finally defeated when Timun Mas sprinkles salt around him that turns into an ocean and swallows him whole
Publisher Erlangga for Kids (EFK) published a Disneyfied version of the story in 2016
Buto Ijo is a lonely giant who desperately wants Timun Mas to be his friend
Timun Mas tells him to smile so he doesn’t look so terrifying
The story ends happily with a smiling Buto Ijo hanging out with his new friends
EFK editor Windrati Hapsari told the Jakarta Globe the story was deliberately edited to carry a positive message of friendship and make it less scary for children
means "upturned boat" in the local Sundanese dialect
The name is taken from a local legend that bears similarities to the classical Greek tragedy "Oedipus Rex."
The story's heroine is an exiled princess called Dayang Sumbi who likes weaving to pass her time
her weaving needle goes missing and she's too lazy to find it
Instead she makes a wish that she will marry whoever finds the needle for her
A dog called Tumang finds the needle and brings it back to Dayang Sumbi
The dog turns out to be a god cursed to live as a dog
Sangkuriang grows up to be a skillful hunter
but does not know that the dog is actually his father
when he could not find any prey Sangkuriang kills Tumang and brings his liver home
When Dayang Sumbi finds out her own son has killed her husband
Sangkuriang returns home and falls in love with his own mother – who has been given the gift of eternal youth by the gods
Dayang Sumbi at first was attracted by the young man
but she then sees the scar on Sangkuriang’s head and realizes he’s her own son
Dayang Sumbi orders him to make her a lake and a big boat to sail on before dawn arrives
Sangkuriang summons the spirits of his ancestors to help him finish the tasks
Worried that Sangkuriang might actually make his deadline
Dayang Sumbi prays for dawn to come early and uses her magic shawl to create sunlight
Sangkuring kicks his half-built boat upside down and the upturned boat turns into a mountain
tales of a trickster called "Si Kancil" ("The Mousedeer") are widely popular
Kancil always outsmarts farmers and bigger animals
In "Kancil and the Crocodile," Kancil wants to cross a river to reach a cucumber garden
The river is full of crocodiles who want to eat him
Kancil tells the crocodiles to line up because he wants to give them meat and he jumps on the crocodiles's backs to reach the cucumber garden
Another version says Kancil tricks the crocodiles to line up by announcing that the king of the jungle is hosting a festival and Kancil has been tasked to count number of crocodiles in the river
The mousedeer stories have been turned into books and wayang (shadow puppet) performances. According to history journal Historia, the oldest written version of the Kancil stories is "Serat Kancil Amongsastra" by Kyai Rangga Amongsastra
a court writer for the Solo Sunan Pakubuwono V
The song-poem was written in 1822 but not published until 1878
Other Kancil books include "Serat Kancil van Dorp" published by Dutch writer G
There are also the "Serat Kancil Salokadarma" and "Serat Kancil Amongraja," written for Yogyakarta’s Pakualaman court
According to historian Philip Frick McKean
the kancil symbolizes the ideal Javanese or Malay man
A teacher fixes a student’s hair to prepare for the Gambyong dance in Klaten
A girl smiles to friends before starting her dance
one of the parts of the classical Gambyong dance performance in Klaten
Dancers cast shadows during their performance
Three girls watch a performance as they wait for their chance to dance
A dancer lifts her toes to avoid the hot asphalt
Dancers performed “ukel,” a basic hand movement of the Javanese traditional dance
a city in Indonesia’s Central Java province
took to the streets recently as they participated in Gambyong Pareanom
The girls ranged in age from elementary school to college
They danced in groups for about 10 minutes to traditional gamelan music
located between two cultural cities (Yogyakarta and Solo)
is supposed to preserve traditional culture
I hope through the colossal Gambyong dance
the students will love traditional dances more and more,” said Joko Wiyono
Dancers began gathering three and a half hours early for the program that started at 8:30 a.m
said her students began their preparations even earlier – at 2 a.m.
“We have no difficulty because we have a dance teacher in our school,” she said
consists of 11 movements requiring synchronized feet
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The MT Jaka Tarub crude storage vessel is undergoing modifications in dry dock that should be completed in early February
allowing the vessel to mobilize to the Wassana location
Valeura plans to resume production operations
targeting initial rates of up to 3,000 bbl/d and subsequently 4,500 bbl/d
following a five-well infill drilling campaign due to start in the second quarter
all main workstreams continue related to the company’s recent agreement to acquire the Thai upstream oil producing portfolio of Mubadala Energy
This includes various oil fields producing about 21,200 bbl/d net to the interest being acquired
The acquisition should complete during the current quarter
planning has started for the greenfield offshore Rossukon oil field development in license G6/48
"Land of Freedom" by Heri Dono (Photo: Courtesy of the artist and Tang Contemporary Art)
As one of Indonesia's most celebrated contemporary artists, Heri Dono is known for his satirical political commentary in his paintings and installations
The artworks on view seem humorous at first glance, yet they deal with serious sociopolitical issues, such as those in the Brexit and Trump era.
"Super Trump - Land" (2017) by Heri Dono (Photo: Courtesy of the artist and Tang Contemporary Art)
To illustrate the complexities of the global political scene, strange-looking mythological creatures are juxtaposed against political caricatures. In "Super Trump - Land", US president Donald Trump is depicted as a superhero-like figure with three eyes
See also: Why Trump Needs China
is inspired by wayang kulit, a form of traditional shadow puppet play in Indonesia
spaceships and parodies of world leaders are commonly found in his work
"Between Two Cards" (2015) by Heri Dono (Photo: Courtesy of the artist and Tang Contemporary Art)
What happens when figures of authority are at odds with each other
Through paintings such as "Trump vs the Dragon" and "Between Two Cards", the artist shows that the rivalry and tension erupting from within cause great casualties
It is also a difficult decision to make when choosing one side over the other
See also: 15 Biggest Art Collectors In Hong Kong
The painting "Joko Tarub Bathe in the Lake
Protected by 7 Bidadari" alludes to the folk story of Jaka Tarub and the Seven Apsaras.
Protected by 7 Bidadari" (2016) by Heri Dono (Photo: Courtesy of the artist and Tang Contemporary Art)
the idea of terrorism is introduced in this work
Surrounded by terrorists firing machine guns
the protagonist is protected by seven winged figures and remains unharmed
we see Heri Dono's sculptural installation works in the gallery
Five dog-like figures are leashed to five human figures
These works are created in 2004 to comment on the sociopolitical issues in Indonesia.
"Land of Freedom" is showing at Tang Contemporary Art in Hong Kong from now until August 12
See also: 5 Hong Kong Art Exhibitions To See In July
the upstream oil and gas company with assets in the Gulf of Thailand and the Thrace Basin of Turkey
has announced the re-start of oil production at the Wassana field
Valeura intends to mobilize its contracted drilling rig to the field
The company plans to conduct an infill drilling program comprised of three production-oriented horizontal development wells targeting deeper reservoir intervals within the field
“I am pleased to see production operations resume at the Wassana field
We have a brief window of opportunity in our overall drilling sequence plan to drill three wells at Wassana commencing later this month
before re-deploying the rig to our Nong Yao C development early in 2024
Our team is also working toward a potential longer-term re-development of the Wassana field
to commercialize the two appraisal discoveries we made in 3Q 2023 by adding reserves and expanding the overall capacity of the field
Concept selection work is progressing with excitement as we begin to re-frame the Wassana asset as a meaningful source of organic growth within our portfolio
We anticipate taking a final decision on the expansion in 2024.”
The Wassana field’s oil storage and offloading vessel
the MT Jaka Tarub remains owned by the Buana Lintas Lautan Group and is chartered by Valeura to store crude oil produced from the field
an independent energy service company offering complete asset life cycle expertise covering various facets of the global upstream industry
has been appointed to operate the MT Jaka Tarub vessel for the remaining duration of its charter
Almost 500m people are estimated to rely on small-scale fisheries
a sector highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change
As the world enters what the United Nations describes as “the era of global boiling”
fishery resources officer at the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)
says small-scale fisheries are “widely recognised as one of the most vulnerable food-production sectors in the face of climate change”
This is an area that is hard to define: it encompasses everything from foot-fishers to semi-industrial vessels
and what is considered a small-scale fishery can differ from country to country
This diversity makes it difficult to compare the impacts of climate change
the challenges fisheries face and which solutions are most effective
Still, the FAO estimates that some 60m people around the world are employed in small-scale fisheries
with another 53m engaged in subsistence fishing
an estimated 492m people depend at least partially on engagement with small-scale fisheries
“Many people relying on these fisheries have historically been—and continue to be—marginalised
living in or at risk of poverty,” says Laure Guillevic
ocean policy officer at the WWF European Policy Office
What this means is that their “economic resilience to climate-driven changes can be limited”
An estimated 40% of participants in small-scale fisheries are women
with the FAO pointing out that women are typically over-represented in low-gear
intertidal fisheries or working informally or in unpaid roles—which makes it harder to get accurate data how climate change affects them
Although both Ms Bahri and Ms Guillevic point to difficulties in data-gathering as well as definitions around what constitutes a small-fishery
it is clear that warming oceans and changing weather patterns are having a huge impact on commercial species—one that is only going to grow as the effects of climate change are amplified
“There is an urgent need for action,” says Ms Bahri
“Climate change is affecting the global productivity of both marine and inland fisheries
Rising temperatures and other climate-related stressors are reshaping the distribution
productivity and composition of exploited fish species
composition and predictability of catches.”
“This is particularly true for regions close to the equator [where the climate and ocean are already warmer]
which also happen to be some with the highest dependence on small-scale fisheries for livelihoods,” she says
Ms Bahri also highlights a regional difference
are likely to experience a decrease in catches as commercially important species seek cooler waters
while other regions are already seeing an increase in productivity or the emergence of new species
She points to the Mediterranean as an example of where new species are impacting fisheries as non-indigenous species move in from the Red Sea
support growing fisheries and lead to the opening of new markets.”
“In areas where fishers can fish only in specific zones due to local regulations
they may have to transition to alternative fisheries resources
like in the case of lobster fishery on the east coast of the US.”
Whether it is changing species or decreasing fish stocks
these shifting patterns have implications for food security
small-scale fisheries are the backbone of the local economy,” says Ms Guillevic
“The fisher pays school fees for their children’s education
provides fish for local restaurants and much more—all with the money generated from extracting a natural
“If climate change puts small-scale fisheries in jeopardy
possibly leading to emigration,” she warns
This drives home the point that climate change and its impact on fisheries is not an issue that can be viewed through a single lens
“Thriving aquatic food systems hold great potential to address climate
biodiversity and nutrition challenges,” says Ms Bahri
including through fuel subsidies for small-scale producers
engagement with fishing associations and by allowing smaller operations to take advantage of larger-scale infrastructure and supply chains
there are many variables when it comes to protecting small-scale fisheries: data is a challenge
and the FAO is working with multiple countries to gather better information as well as on projects like those in Senegal and the eastern Caribbean
The communities working in and relying on these fisheries also need a greater say in how they are managed
coastal communities that rely on small-scale fisheries are rarely at the forefront of policy discussions,” says Ms Bahri
can help ensure that all management decisions take into consideration the livelihoods of local communities and their long-term needs.”
Diversification of the economy is another key solution
or monitoring and management of marine protected areas
can reduce fishers’ reliance on fisheries by offering alternative and diversified employment opportunities
while also supporting marine ecosystem restoration by reducing pressure on fish stocks and marine habitats
“Healthy marine biodiversity plays a crucial role in mitigating the effects of climate change,” she says
As the world enters what the United Nations describes as “the era of global boiling”
Still, the FAO estimates that some 60m people around the world are employed in small-scale fisheries
Copyright © The Economist Newspaper Limited 2023
Canada — Valeura Energy is addressing damage to moorings serving the Wassana oilfield redevelopment in the Gulf of Thailand
Following a charter agreement, the third-party operated oil storage vessel MT Jaka Tarub mobilized to the field late last month
the vessel impacted the field’s catenary anchor leg mooring (CALM) buoy
No personnel were injured; production had not yet started
Valeura is collaborating with Thailand’s upstream regulator
on a safe restart of production operations
it will involve a comprehensive inspection to assess damage and verify the operational integrity of the offloading system
maintenance and inspection work on Wassana’s Ingenium mobile offshore production unit (MOPU)
the company received formal notice of the MOPU’s recertification
Valeura is also preparing for infill drilling operations
having agreed last year to charter the PV Drilling I jackup for a five-well program on Wassana
The rig should arrive on location during the third quarter
it will sail shortly to the field followed by a restart of production operations
is targeting initial rates of up to 3,000 bbl/d
net to the 89% interest held by its subsidiary company Valeura Energy Asia
Valeura Energy also announced it plans to acquire the remaining minority interest in its special purpose vehicle subsidiary company
which is the entity that holds all of its assets in Thailand