Eni has added deepwater acreage to its Indonesian portfolio, securing the Sapukala block in the Kutei Basin with a 100% participating interest through the first Indonesia Petroleum Bidding Round 2026.

The block lies offshore East Kalimantan in water depths of 1,000–2,500 m, placing it among the frontier-depth prospects of the basin. Its position is the operational logic of the award: Sapukala sits near blocks Eni already operates or participates in, and close to the planned North Hub developments that anchor the company's gas growth in the region.

Those developments are now managed by Searah, the 50:50 joint venture Eni and Petronas formed in June 2026. The North Hub cluster brings together the Geng North, Gehem, Gula and Gelima — per the company, Gula and Geliga — gas and condensate discoveries, which collectively hold more than 14 tcf of gas in place and 800 million barrels of condensate. Sapukala gives Eni adjacent exploration upside around a hub infrastructure set that will define Kutei Basin development economics for the next decade.

The award followed a joint study with an Indonesian academic institution, conducted to meet local regulatory requirements, and participation in a direct offer bid round. Eni said the study identified the acreage as highly prospective. It has already completed a new seismic acquisition programme over the block, which the company said would support accelerated evaluation — a signal that the Italian operator intends to move quickly from licence to drillable inventory rather than hold the acreage passively.

Eni has operated in Indonesia since 2001 and holds direct operatorship of the Peri-Mahakam and Makassar Strait blocks. The Searah JV, created in June 2026, pooled the two companies' Indonesian and Malaysian portfolios into 19 gas-producing and development assets — 14 in Indonesia and five in Malaysia. Searah currently produces around 350,000 boepd and targets more than 500,000 boepd by 2028. Sapukala is the exploration feedstock for that trajectory.

Baleine stake sale

Separately, Eni has completed the sale of a 10% stake in the Baleine project offshore Côte d'Ivoire to SOCAR. The transaction fits what the company calls its "dual exploration model" — monetising exploration discoveries through equity divestments to fund further drilling.

Baleine, Côte d'Ivoire's main offshore development, is now held by Eni with 37.25%, Vitol with 30%, SOCAR with 10% and Petroci with 22.75%. The field was discovered in 2021 and came onstream in 2023. Eni has been present in the country since 2015.

The watch items: the pace of Sapukala evaluation following the new seismic programme, and whether the block feeds directly into Searah's North Hub sanctioning timeline — and the 500,000-boepd production target the JV has set for 2028.