Humpuss starts exploration

JAKARTA (JP): PT Humpuss Patragas, a technical assistance contractor of state oil and gas firm PT Pertamina, will soon start oil exploration in Bojonegoro and Tuban, East Java.

The company said it was in the process of appropriating the land for exploration fields in the Bojonegoro oil mining areas of Ngasem and Padangan.

The company has completed preparatory work in the Tuban area of Senori and will start exploration there in two months, company officer Gatot Suharso told Antara in Bojonegoro.

Its contract areas in Bojonegoro and Tuban are each believed to contain 20 million barrels of oil.

The company, a joint venture between the Humpuss group and Mobil Oil of the United States, develops oil fields formerly run by the state oil company under a technical assistance contract.

The company has a 15 percent stake in the project, while the remaining 85 percent is held by Pertamina. (jsk)