Agreement on Mahakam transition to be signed next week
Wednesday, April 8 2015 - 01:02 PM WIB
State-owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamian, Total EP Indonesie of France and INPEX Corporation of Japan are to sign a Head of Agreement (HoA) on transition period of Mahakam gas block in East Kalimantan next week, according to Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Sudirman Said.
?Next week, Pertamina, Total and Inpex will sign a HoA on how the transition period will be managed,? Sudirman said at the State Palace on Wednesday after reporting some progress of energy projects in the country.
A similar statement was made by the minister on Wednesday at the hearing with the House of Representatives? Commission VII which oversees among others energy affairs.
Regarding the likelihood that Pertamina may give a minority ownership to Total, the block?s current operator, after 2017, the minister said: ?They would discuss it later. The most important thing now is that Pertamina can immediately conduct a field orientation to understand the operation, so that at the end of 2017 (the takeover) can be smooth.?
The minister recently announced that the government has decided to transfer the block to Pertamina after the current contract held by Total and INPEX expires on Dec. 31, 2017.
Editing by Johannes Simbolon