President Pushes for More Oil and Gas Investment
Indonesia is hoping to attract $16.6 billion in oil and gas sector investment in 2009, a 28.6 percent increase from last year’s $12.9 billion, as the country seeks to boost production to meet demand, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told an oil and gas conference on Tuesday.
The president opened the 33rd annual Indonesian Petroleum Association (IPA) meeting by saying that domestic demand for refinery products was increasing as the nation’s transportation and industrial sectors and power generation capacity continued to grow.
“We are determined to boost our oil production,” Yudhoyono said.
“This means that we will expand and intensify exploration. We have many basins yet to be explored. At the same time, we are looking to gas - in addition to coal - as the fuel of the future.”
The IPA’s members include 47 major upstream oil and gas companies and 93 associate members, which range from service companies to legal and accounting firms and other entities supporting the sector.
Oil and gas, Yudhoyono said, “play strategic roles as critical sources of energy and fuel for industries in the domestic market. The export of oil and gas continues to be an important source of revenue for the state.”
Both industries remain pillars of Indonesia’s economy, contributing about 21 percent of the nation’s exports and 32 percent of state revenue.
Yudhoyono said that the government was keen to improve the local investment climate by developing a package of incentives, formulating ways to overcome taxation problems and restructuring the nation’s regulatory framework.
The president also witnessed the signing of 20 energy contracts worth $1.4 billion, including 12 upstream oil and gas contracts worth $219 million, five gas sales agreements worth $1.15 billion and three coal-bed methane (CBM) contracts worth about $26.9 million.
The largest oil and gas deal was a $45 million, three-year contract for the Cendrawasih block in Papua, which involves Black Gold Cendrawasih, ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Indonesia Cendrawasih. The biggest CBM contract signed was for a block in Sangatta, East Kalimantan, and is worth $11.03 million for the first three years.
Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said that the 12 new oil and gas contracts would bring the number of exploration blocks in the country to 119.
“This indicates that today Indonesia is still attractive for exploration activities,” he said.
The 20 contracts, Purnomo said, are expected to employ more than 3,200 people for both construction and operations.
The oil and gas sector last year attracted 70 percent of the total investments in the nation’s energy and mineral resources sector, the ministry said.
The president opened the 33rd annual Indonesian Petroleum Association (IPA) meeting by saying that domestic demand for refinery products was increasing as the nation’s transportation and industrial sectors and power generation capacity continued to grow.
“We are determined to boost our oil production,” Yudhoyono said.
“This means that we will expand and intensify exploration. We have many basins yet to be explored. At the same time, we are looking to gas - in addition to coal - as the fuel of the future.”
The IPA’s members include 47 major upstream oil and gas companies and 93 associate members, which range from service companies to legal and accounting firms and other entities supporting the sector.
Oil and gas, Yudhoyono said, “play strategic roles as critical sources of energy and fuel for industries in the domestic market. The export of oil and gas continues to be an important source of revenue for the state.”
Both industries remain pillars of Indonesia’s economy, contributing about 21 percent of the nation’s exports and 32 percent of state revenue.
Yudhoyono said that the government was keen to improve the local investment climate by developing a package of incentives, formulating ways to overcome taxation problems and restructuring the nation’s regulatory framework.
The president also witnessed the signing of 20 energy contracts worth $1.4 billion, including 12 upstream oil and gas contracts worth $219 million, five gas sales agreements worth $1.15 billion and three coal-bed methane (CBM) contracts worth about $26.9 million.
The largest oil and gas deal was a $45 million, three-year contract for the Cendrawasih block in Papua, which involves Black Gold Cendrawasih, ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Indonesia Cendrawasih. The biggest CBM contract signed was for a block in Sangatta, East Kalimantan, and is worth $11.03 million for the first three years.
Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said that the 12 new oil and gas contracts would bring the number of exploration blocks in the country to 119.
“This indicates that today Indonesia is still attractive for exploration activities,” he said.
The 20 contracts, Purnomo said, are expected to employ more than 3,200 people for both construction and operations.
The oil and gas sector last year attracted 70 percent of the total investments in the nation’s energy and mineral resources sector, the ministry said.