Earlier major partner for this “vast” gas field was Exxon Mobil but they sold concerned about cost to their “social licence”(reduced sales at servos, unpopularity

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The East Natuna gas field has approximately 71%CO2 content in its natural gas, a high concentration that made early development efforts expensive and difficult due to extraction costs and the need for extensive CO2 removal. The significant CO2 content of the East Natuna field presented a major challenge, as separating the valuable methane from the large volume of carbon dioxide is a complex and costly industrial process. 
 

Details on East Natuna’s CO2 Content

• High CO2 Percentage:The East Natuna gas field, located in Indonesia’s Natuna Sea, is known for its massive size and a very high concentration of CO2, estimated to be around 71% of the total gas in place. 
• Development Challenges:This high CO2 percentage significantly increased the cost of extracting and processing the gas, making it difficult to develop the field economically. 
• Cryogenic Separation:Techniques like cryogenic distillation are used to separate CO2 from the other components of natural gas, including the valuable methane. 

Why this matters

• Resource Utilization:Overcoming the CO2 challenge is crucial for utilizing the vast gas reserves in the East Natuna field. 
• Industrial Processes:The separation of CO2 from natural gas involves complex industrial processes, such as cryogenic distillation, where the mixture of gases is cooled to extremely low temperatures to separate them. 
• Alternative Applications:If the extracted CO2 is not used for methane production, it could potentially be used for applications like enhanced oil recovery (EOR) or for long-term storage (sequestration) as part of carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects.