Apexindo looks for $120 million loan to build new rig

PT Apexindo Pratama Duta Tbk is currently looking for a US$120 million loan to finish an off shore rig jack up building project called Soehanah, the Investor Daily Indonesia newspaper reported in its Wednesday edition.

The total value of the rig will reach $137 million.

Apexindo?s company secretary Ade R Satari said his company is currently negotiating with several consortia consisting of local as well as foreign financial institutions.

?I can?t reveal the names because we are still in the negotiation process,? Ade told the Investor Daily on Tuesday in Jakarta.

The building process of new rig jack up, according to Ade, has started in early 2005 and is scheduled to be finished by December 2006. Apexindo has paid 20 percent of the rig?s cost from its internal resources in the early 2005.

The contract to build the rig was given to Apexindo?s subsidiary Sembawang Group and Singapore-based PPL Ship Yard Ltd. Soehanah rig, once completed, will operate in the off shore at a depth of maximum 375 feet from the sea level and its digging capacity will be 25,000 feet. (*)