BP migas seeks to settle dispute<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Oil and gas upstream authority BP Migas is seeking to settle a
\ndispute involving oil and gas companies ExxonMobil, Pertamina and
\nPetroChina over production tests at the Sukawati oil field in
\nEast Java.<\/p>\n
\"BP Migas has invited the disputing parties for a talk to
\nsolve the dispute on Friday,\" Trijana Kartoatmodjo, BP Migas'
\ndeputy of operation, told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The dispute centered on production tests currently being
\ncarried out by joint venture JOB Tuban, comprising among others
\nstate-owned Pertamina and China's PetroChina, at the Sukawati oil
\nfield, which is believed to have oil recoverable resources of 25
\nmillion barrels.<\/p>\n
Around 85 percent of the resources reportedly lie in the Cepu
\nblock, owned by ExxonMobil, while the remaining 15 percent is in
\nthe adjacent Tuban block, owned by JOB Tuban.<\/p>\n
According to Petromindo.Com, the production tests have been
\ncarried out without prior consent from ExxonMobil.<\/p>\n
In April 2002, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources
\nissued a decree to unitize the Sukowati field and appointed JOB
\nTuban as the operator on the assumption had transferred its part
\nof the reserves at the Sukowati field to Pertamina.<\/p>\n
\"Actually, ExxonMobil has yet to transfer the rights on
\nSukowati to Pertamina. ExxonMobil only indicated its willingness
\nto relinquish Sukowati if Pertamina agrees to extend the Cepu
\nblock contract for another 20 years.<\/p>\n
\"In fact, Pertamina unilaterally stopped negotiations with
\nExxonMobil over the Cepu block contract extension. Therefore, the
\ngovernment's decision to give operatorship to JOB Tuban is based
\non faulty assumption and without hearing ExxonMobil's opinion,\"
\nthe website quoted a source as saying.<\/p>\n
Pertamina recently announced it had refused to extend
\nExxonMobil's contract on the Cepu block, which is believed to
\ncontain at least 600 million barrels of oil. The contract is due
\nin 2010.<\/p>\n
JOB Tuban had reportedly pumped up an estimated 170,000
\nbarrels from the Sukawati field as of August.<\/p>\n
Trijana admitted that at the request of Pertamina, he had
\nrecently sent a letter asking JOB Tuban to stop the test
\nproduction, but the joint venture is continuing its test
\nproduction with a target of hitting the 300,000 barrel mark by
\nthe end of this month.<\/p>\n
\"It is not easy to immediately stop production. Thus, we can
\nunderstand why production is continuing,\" Trijana said.<\/p>\n
When contacted via cellphone, JOB Tuban's general manager
\nAlfian refused to comment, saying he was not sure that the caller
\nwas from the Post.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/bp-migas-seeks-to-settle-dispute-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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