JAKARTA, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Indonesian government has set to explore oil and gas resources in Warim block, Papua province, a minister said on Wednesday.

Indonesian Coordinating Minister of Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, said that the amount of oil in the Warim block exceeded the reserves in the country's Masela block in Maluku province, which is reported to store nearly 26 billion barrels of potential oil reserves and 47.37 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of natural gas.

The Warim block is located in a protected forest of Lorentz National Park and the government decided to start the exploration agenda with slant drilling, Pandjaitan told reporters at the 2023 Marine Spatial Planning and Services Expo in Jakarta.

The country's Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources reported that Indonesia currently has 70 unexplored oil and gas basins.

Apart from the Warim block, the government is also focusing on developing basins in Buton, Warin, and Aru blocks located in the eastern part of Indonesia.