Total sells Tuban stake

Total sells Tuban stake

PARIS (Reuters): French energy group Total said yesterday it had agreed to sell its 12.5 percent stake in the Tuban permit in Indonesia to Santa Fe Energy of the United States, as part of a strategy of selling non-core assets.

The permit is on Java island and includes the Mudi onshore field, which produces 7,000 barrels of oil daily, Total said in a statement. It gave no financial details.

"All of the group's output in Indonesia is currently generated by the Mahakam permit in East Kalimantan, where Total reported a 1997 output of 26 million barrels of oil and condensates and 12.3 billion cubic metres of gas," it said.

It said it now supplies about half the gas needs of the Bontang plant, the world's largest liquefaction complex. It would continue to develop the Mahakam permit, with start-up production in three new fields at Peciko, Sisis and Nubi due in the next five years.

It said it would be the leading gas producer in Indonesia by 2003.

Total said it also expanded its scope of exploration elsewhere in Indonesia in 1997.