PGN seeks investors for Sumatra project

PGN seeks investors for Sumatra project

JAKARTA: PT Perusahaan Gas Negara, Indonesia's state-owned gas distributor, is seeking overseas investors to help build a US$300 million pipeline linking gas fields in southern Sumatra to North Sumatra province.

The Jakarta-based company plans to invite bids for prospective partners in the first half of this year, Chief Financial Officer Joko Pramono said. The 493-kilometer pipeline will link Duri gas fields, operated by a unit of ChevronTexaco Corp., in Riau province, to the city of Medan and other cities in North Sumatra, he said.

"We're seeking investors for a built-on-transfer scheme or a joint venture," Pramono told reporters in Jakarta on Wednesday. "We aren't planning to sell bonds for this one."

Perusahaan Gas expects to complete construction in July 2007, sooner than its initial target of December 2007, he said. -- Bloomberg