Four companies win contracts for oil and gas exploration
Four companies win contracts for oil and gas exploration
JAKARTA (JP): Four companies yesterday were awarded contracts
from the state oil company Pertamina for oil and gas exploration
and production.
One of the four companies will be allowed to operate under a
production sharing contract in a new area, while the other three,
under technical assistance agreements, will operate and manage
Pertamina's old oil fields by using the enhanced recovery method.
The four companies were the first to sign contracts with
Pertamina for hydrocarbon exploration and production.
Petrocorp Exploration Indonesia Ltd., a subsidiary of a New
Zealand oil corporation, yesterday won the right to explore oil
in the 980-square-kilometer Karang Besar block off the coast of
East Kalimantan.
The three technical contracts went to PT Patrindo Persadamaju,
PT Binawahana Petrindo Meruap and PT Babat-Kukui Energi.
Patrindo will operate Pertamina's former oil field in the
197.54-square-kilometer Wasian-Mogori block in Irian Jaya,
Binawahana the 245.94-square-kilometer Meruap block in Jambi and
Babat-Kukui an 8.96-square-kilometer oil field in Lapangan Babat
and Kukui in South Sumatra.
Minister of Mines and Energy I.B. Sudjana said he was upbeat
that more companies will soon enter the oil exploration industry.
"We hope we will be able to sign more contracts in the
remaining months of this year," he said at the signing ceremony.
He said incentives introduced by the government in January are
attractive enough and "I don't think the government should
introduce a new measure to bolster oil exploration activities."
However, oil company executives said yesterday that the number
of companies entering the country's oil exploration industry is
likely to decline sharply this year despite the issuance of new
incentives in January.
"The government certainly needs to issue more incentives to
make oil exploration more appealing," Baihaki Hakim, the
president of Caltex Petroleum Indonesia.
Baihaki said the government should at least help finance the
costly seismic surveys.
Other contractors also appealed to the government to
strengthen the banking industry's role in exploration.
David Salman of Patrindo said the banking industry should be
encouraged to back up exploration activities so that more local
investors will be involved in oil exploration.
Domestic investors are now mostly engaged in enhanced oil
recovery (EOR) activities in Pertamina's old wells. (hen)