10 financial agencies ready to finance Cepu block exploration

State-owned oil and gas company PT Pertamina will hold a “beauty contest” to select financial organizations which can fund its exploration activities at Cepu block.

Ten international as well as national financial institutions have expressed their readiness to finance the project.

Pertamina’s upstream director Hari Kustoro confirmed the news about the financial institutions and said JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lunch and Nippon Export and investment (Nexi) were in the list.

“There were already so many (financial) institutions, which came to us and expressed their intention to finance the Cepu block. This (Tuesday morning) Nexi from Japan came to us,” Hari said in Jakarta on Tuesday.

He didn’t mentioned about how much money was offered by each institution

“The amount is huge but we have not yet taken a decision because they have to participate in the beauty contest first,” he said.

Earlier Pertamina’s director of finance Alfred H. Rohimone said that at least US$1 billion investment needed during the Cepu block’s first phase. Given its 50 percent share, Pertamina has to prepare US$500 million.(godang)