Gulf Indonesia plans to invest $150m in 2001

Gulf Indonesia plans to invest $150m in 2001

SINGAPORE (Dow Jones): Gulf Indonesia Resources Ltd. (GRL), an oil and gas company, plans to invest US$150 million in Indonesia this year, company president Bill Fanagan told Dow Jones Newswires Friday.

Gulf Indonesia, a unit of Gulf Canada Resources Ltd. (GOU), plans to pump US$100 million of the US$150 million into petroleum upstream exploration and infrastructure development, Fanagan said.

The remaining US$50 million will be invested in exploration - both onshore and offshore, as well as in new ventures, he added.

Indonesia is set to open 21 new oil and gas exploration blocks for tender before the end of February. Gulf Indonesia will be participating in the tender.

Together with Talisman Energy Inc. (TLM) of Canada, Petronas Carigali - a unit of Malaysia's state-owned Petroliam Nasional Bhd. (P.PET), or Petronas, and Santa Fe International Corp. (SDC), Gulf Indonesia plans to invest a total of US$300 million in Indonesian oil and gas exploration and production activities in 2001, Fanagan said, reiterating the company's long-term interest in the country.

Gulf Indonesia currently operates 13 oil and gas blocks in the country. It is one of the four companies in the US$1.5 billion West Natuna Gas consortium, which started in January exporting 325 million cubic feet of natural gas a day to Singapore for a 22-year period.

The company has been present in Indonesia for 40 years, and has a total investment of over US$1 billion.