ARCO appraisal almost finished

ARCO appraisal almost finished

SINGAPORE (Reuter): Atlantic Richfield Co (ARCO) aims to
complete an appraisal program at its Irian Jaya gas field by the
end of 1997, ARCO Asia Inc President Roger Truitt said yesterday.

Truitt declined to reveal the level of reserves the company
estimated were contained in the gas field -- the Wiriagar and
Berau blocks in Bituni Bay.

But he told Reuters in an interview in Singapore the company
was hopeful it would be able to build at least two liquefied
natural gas (LNG) production lines producing six million tons of
LNG each year from the find.

"We're optimistic we will be able to do that," he said.
The find has been the center of much industry interest, coming
hot on the heels of the larger Natuna gas field in the Natuna
Sea, 135 miles northeast of Natuna Island, which has estimated
recoverable reserves of 46 trillion cubic feet.

Truitt said the Irian Jaya find was not in Natuna's league and
the projects should not be compared.

The rest of the appraisal program for the Irian Jaya find
would include three further appraisal wells following the eight
drilled so far.

He said a statement on Irian Jaya's full appraisal could be
made at the end of the year, but it would only be done in
conjunction with the partners in the field and Indonesia's state-
owned oil company Pertamina.

ARCO holds 80 percent of the Wiriagar field. Japan's Kanematsu
Corp [8020.T] holds the remaining 20 percent.

ARCO holds a 40-percent stake in the Berau block, Kanematsu 12
percent, Occidental Petroleum Co 22.86 percent and Nippon Oil
17.14 percent.

Arco is searching throughout Asia for potential new
exploration and production deals. Apart from Irian Jaya, its
major Asian investment is the would be the Yacheng 13-1 natural
gas project in China which produces 3.4 billion cubic metres of
gas.

But ARCO also has a 20-percent interest in the 135,000
barrels-per-day Zhenhai Refining and Chemical Co [1128.HK], one
of the largest refineries in China.

Truitt said Arco was exploring further investments in Asia,
both upstream and downstream, but he declined to give any
details.

"We are looking basically everywhere in Asia. We have
confidence in the growth and the resources are here to develop,"
Truitt said.