Medco pays $150m debts to UOB

Medco pays $150m debts to UOB

Leony Aurora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Cashing in on the sales of interests in several of its oil
blocks, publicly-listed oil and gas company PT Medco Energi
Internasional has paid US$150 million dollars of its debt to the
United Overseas Bank (UOB).

In a letter sent to the Indonesia Capital Market Supervisory
Agency (Bapepam) over the weekend, Medco said that payment was
made to return parts of a bridging loan facility of $200 million
it obtained from the international creditor in June last year.

"Up to Jan. 4, 2005, the Company has paid UOB a total of $150
million," said Medco's CEO Hilmi Panigoro in the letter made
available to the public.

Outstanding debt of $50 million has been extended 15 months
with interest rates between 3 percent and 6.5 percent higher than
the one-month Singapore Interbank Offered Rate (Sibor).

All of the proceeds from the UOB bridging loan facility had
been used to fund the purchase of 100 percent of Australian-based
energy firm Novus Petroleum Ltd.'s shares at A$350 million last
year.

The acquisition was completed in August and approved in the
shareholders' meeting in September 2004.

To meet its financial obligations to creditors, Medco, the
largest Indonesian-controlled private oil company, continues to
sell Novus' assets, particularly minor interests in several oil
and gas blocks.

In the statement, the company -- founded by
businessman-turned-politician Arifin Panigoro -- announced the
transfer of 18 percent of Novus' interests in the Brantas block
in East Java to Santos Brantas Pty. Ltd.

"On Monday, Dec. 27, 2004, the Oil and Gas Upstream Regulatory
Body (BP Migas) approved the transfer," Medco stated.

Santos has also acquired interests of Medco's other oil
blocks, namely 6.25 percent of the Kakap Block, located off the
coast of Sabah, Malaysia, 4.76 percent of South Africa's Cooper
Basin and almost 3 percent of Patchawarra East of Australia.

Medco received the proceeds of the asset sale of $98 million
from Santos on Dec. 31 last year.

On the same day, its subsidiary, Novus, signed a Purchase and
Sale Agreement to relieve its working interest at Stratton Field
in Texas, the United States, amounting to 30 percent, to the
Apache Corporation.

Apache, the operator of the oil field, directly paid the
$45.26 million required for the transaction.

Medco reported a 7 percent rise in its third quarter net
profit in 2004 to $44.5 million as compared to the same period
the previous year thanks to the surge in oil prices and
additional production from Novus.

Production from Novus has helped add 5,000 barrels of oil per
day to the company's declining oil production, which is primarily
due to the age and depreciation of its Kaji Semoga oil fields in
Rimau regency, South Sumatra.

At present, Medco's assets are estimated at $1.42 billion.