Gulf Indonesia Ltd. to invest at least $200m

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Oil and gas company Gulf Indonesia Resources Ltd. will invest US$200 million per year for the "next few years" to explore and develop new oil and gas fields in Indonesia.

"During the last ten years we've invested more than $1 billion. And we've committed to make new investments of $200 million per year in the next few years," company government and public relations coordinator Cino Calfino told The Jakarta Post.

But he was concerned that it was difficult to get foreign loans to finance oil and gas projects in Indonesia due to the country's high-risk rating.

The current political instability and legal uncertainty has made the risk of investing in Indonesia one of the highest in the region.

Gulf Indonesia Resources is owned by Gulf Canada Resources, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Gulf Indonesia's oil and gas output last year was more than 80,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

Approximately 55 per cent of this production came from onshore gas operations, 25 percent from onshore oil operations, which are both on Sumatra island, and the balance from offshore Kakap oil and gas operations in the Natuna sea to the west of Kalimantan.

The company currently has interest in 12 contract areas in the country of which four are already in production, six are set for exploitation, while the remaining two are set for future exploration.