Eni and PETRONAS have officially established Searah, a new independent 50:50 joint venture that combines selected upstream assets and operations across Indonesia and Malaysia. The milestone comes just seven months after the signing of the Investment Agreement in November 2025 and 16 months after the companies first announced their Memorandum of Understanding in February 2025.
Searah brings together the complementary portfolios, technical capabilities, and regional expertise of both companies to drive long-term value creation and operational excellence across Southeast Asia. The new entity will manage a portfolio of 19 producing and development assets, including 14 in Indonesia and five in Malaysia. It launches with an initial production base exceeding 300,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) and targets sustainable production of more than 500,000 boe/d within the next three years.
The establishment of the joint venture follows the successful completion of all required regulatory, governmental, and partner approvals in both Indonesia and Malaysia, with all conditions precedent now fulfilled.
Commenting on the launch, Claudio Descalzi, chief executive officer of Eni, said Searah reflects the company’s proven strategy of creating focused, high-quality businesses capable of combining scale, efficiency, and growth. He noted that the venture leverages Eni’s strengths in exploration, project execution, technology, and innovation, while creating a significant new energy player in Southeast Asia through collaboration with PETRONAS. He also highlighted the venture’s commitment to environmental stewardship and local economic development.
Tengku Muhammad Taufik, president and group CEO of PETRONAS, described Searah as a key element of the company’s strategy to strengthen resource development discipline, improve capital allocation, and enhance value creation across the gas value chain. He stated that the combination of PETRONAS’ and Eni’s portfolios and capabilities would provide the operational expertise, financial strength, and growth capacity needed to meet the region’s rising energy demand while supporting long-term energy security in Indonesia and Malaysia.
To support its growth ambitions, Searah has secured a US$6 billion revolving credit facility, underscoring strong confidence from financial markets. The company is expected to invest more than US$20 billion over the next five years to develop over three billion barrels of oil equivalent of discovered resources and unlock additional multi-billion-barrel exploration opportunities.
Both Eni and PETRONAS have aligned environmental and sustainability objectives for the venture and believe the partnership will strengthen operational performance while creating economic benefits and local opportunities in both countries. Searah’s independent and integrated operating model is also expected to generate significant efficiencies, particularly in logistics and technology deployment.
The new company’s leadership team combines extensive experience from both organisations. All Eni Indonesia and PETRONAS Indonesia personnel have transitioned to Searah, while Searah Malaysia Sdn Bhd has been established to oversee the company’s Malaysian operations and assets.
The launch of Searah follows several major upstream developments announced by Eni earlier this year. In March, the company confirmed Final Investment Decisions (FIDs) for the Gendalo and Gandang fields within the South Hub development, as well as the Geng North and Gehem fields in the North Hub. Together, these projects contain nearly 10 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of gas initially in place and approximately 550 million barrels of associated condensate. Production is expected to commence in 2028, reaching a plateau of two billion standard cubic feet per day (bscfd) of gas and 90,000 barrels per day of condensate by 2029.
The venture also follows Eni’s recent announcement of the significant Geliga-1 gas discovery in the Ganal Block within the Kutei Basin. The discovery is estimated to contain around five trillion cubic feet of gas and 300 million barrels of condensate in place. Testing has indicated excellent reservoir quality, with the well capable of producing approximately 200 million standard cubic feet of gas per day and 10,000 barrels of condensate per day.
The creation of Searah is expected to accelerate the deployment of capital and resources required to achieve its near-term production target of 500,000 boe/d while advancing further development opportunities generated by the success of the Geliga exploration campaign.
Eni has maintained a presence in Indonesia since 2001 and currently operates a diversified upstream portfolio spanning exploration, development, and production activities. The company’s net production in the country stands at approximately 90,000 boe/d, primarily from the offshore Jangkrik and Merakes fields in East Kalimantan.
The establishment of Searah marks a significant new chapter in the long-standing commitment of both Eni and PETRONAS to Southeast Asia, strengthening their position in the region while supporting future energy development and security across Indonesia and Malaysia.
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