An Indonesian government official suggested on December 26th that Jakarta may gave state oil and natural gas firm Pertamina 90 percent of the Coastal Plain Pekanburu (CPP) crude field in the Sumatran province of Riau.
Caltex Pacific Indonesia, which has been operating the 60,000 b/d field, will see its contract expire in August 2001.
The government and the Riau province have been deadlocked in negotiations over the CPP field, with the province demanding that it be granted a 70 percent stake in the field.
“The government is very interested in maintaining the production of the CPP field. Therefore, to give Pertamina a 90 percent stake is the only option,” the government official was quoted as saying.
“To maintain production in CPP, we need investment, technology and a network for marketing the crude. So, it is not easy,” he added.
Pertamina also announced on December 22nd that it was optimistic about finding new crude and gas reserves in 2001, based on plans by foreign contractors to boost their spending.
Heru Tjokro, a senior Pertamina official, said that: “There are indications there will be several new findings of oil and gas in some contractors’ operations.” Gulf Canada Resources and Talisman Energy Inc., in fact, said on December 21st that they had signed a contract to provide extra gas supplies to Caltex Pacific Indonesia’s crude production operations in Sumatra.
Tjokro also cited encouraging news from Unocal Corp.’s operations in the Makassar Strait. “Unocal’s findings in the Makassar Strait and other findings in Natuna have proved that things look promising for Indonesia’s oil and gas industry,” he said.
Foreign oil contractors working in Indonesia are planning to boost spending in 2001 to $752 million from $588 million in 2000.
