ARMI takes over Shell's gas block<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The government has approved American company
\nAtlantic Richfiled Muriah Inc.'s (ARMI) acquisition of the Muriah
\ngas block off the coast of Central Java from Dutch energy company
\nShell, state oil and gas firm Pertamina said on Monday.<\/p>\n
Pertamina spokesman Ramli Djaafar said Shell sold its 100
\npercent stake in the 7,200 square kilometer Muriah block, but he
\ndid not provide the value of the transaction.<\/p>\n
The block includes the Kepodang gas field, which was
\ndiscovered in the early 1980s and is estimated to be able to
\nyield about 400 million cubic feet (mmcf) of gas, Ramli said in a
\nstatement.<\/p>\n
ARMI, which is a subsidiary of American energy company
\nAtlantic Richfield Company (ARCO), plans to develop the Kepodang
\nfield, including supplying gas from the field to the Tambak Lorok
\npower plant owned by state electricity company PT Perusahaan
\nListrik Negara on the north coast of Central Java starting in
\nearly 2000.<\/p>\n
ARCO, which has been operating in the country for 30 years, is
\ncurrently involved in 10 production sharing contracts (PSC). It
\nalso is the country's biggest gas supplier to the domestic
\nmarket, with supplies of 600 mmcf of gas per day to Java from its
\noffshore Kangean and Northwest Java blocks.<\/p>\n
Ramli said ARCO was trying to market another 1.5 trillion
\ncubic feet of gas from the two fields.<\/p>\n
According to data from Pertamina, with the sale of the Muriah
\nblock, Shell, a subsidiary of oil company The Royal Dutch\/Shell,
\nnow operates two oil and gas blocks in the country; the Sembawang
\nII block and the Bukat block, both off the coast of East
\nKalimantan.<\/p>\n
ARCO has aggressively expanded its business in the country
\nover the past two years. It signed two PSC contracts last year on
\nthe East Arguni block and the West Arguni block, both in Irian
\nJaya.<\/p>\n
ARCO recently announced it would lay off 50 percent of its
\nemployees, reducing its workforce to around 900 people by the
\nmiddle of the year in order to boost efficiency. However, company
\npresident Leon Codron said the company would expand its business
\nin the country despite the reduction in its workforce.<\/p>\n
The company will proceed with its US$4 billion Tangguh
\nliquefied natural gas project in Irian Jaya, where ARCO, with
\nBritish Gas and other partners, has found more than 18.3 trillion
\ncubic feet of proven and potential natural gas reserves. (jsk)<\/p>",
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