Oil industry to be provided telecommunication services

JAKARTA (JP): PT Elnusa, a subsidiary of the state-owned oil company Pertamina, will establish a subsidiary to provide satellite communication services for oil industry activities, an executive says.

Elnusa's president, Aswad Dipo, told reporters here on Saturday that the subsidiary, to be called PT Sistem Komunikasi Satelit Perminyakan (SKSP), will be 40 percent owned by Elnusa, 30 percent by PT Telkom, the state-owned domestic telecommunications company, 10 percent by PT Indosat, the state- owned international telecommunications firm, 10 percent by the Humpuss Group and 10 percent by the Panutan Duta Group.

"The investment for the subsidiary will be more than US$30 million," he said.

He said the subsidiary will be set up as soon as the Ministry of Finance allows Telkom to participate in the satellite telecommunications project.

SKSP, which will have its headquarters near the Gambir railway station in Central Jakarta, will lease a transponder of one of the country's Palapa satellites, he said.

Aswad said the project will provide clearer voice reception than point-to-point facilities and its operation, therefore, will help reduce telecommunications spending of companies operating oil fields or exploring for oil reserves in remote areas.

He said that Elnusa recorded a steady increase in its assets from Rp 50 million when it was established in 1969 to Rp 150 billion ($89.9 million) at present, including Pertamina's equity of Rp 23 billion.

Elnusa, with its seven subsidiaries, has expanded its operations into four cores of business, including geoscience; engineering, communications and information technology; fuel and chemicals; as well as construction management.

The subsidiaries comprise of PT Elnusa Workover Services, PT Perta Insana, PT Elnusa Yellow Pages, PT Elnusa Multi Industri Komputer, PT Elnusa Chemlink, PT Elnusa Schlumberger and PT Purna Bina Nusa.

The Elnusa Group expects to gain total sales revenues of Rp 348 billion this fiscal year with an estimated profit of seven to eight percent of the sales.

The group currently employs 1,720 people, including 820 at Elnusa.

Elnusa Workover Services' president, Bambang Sukesti, said that his company is currently serving Unocal in Thailand and Esso in Malaysia with contract fees of about $5,000 per day to provide field management and environment services. (icn)