Apexindo obtains new geothermal drilling contract
Saturday, September 9 2017 - 03:02 AM WIB
Petromindo|Khalsa
IDX-listed rig provider PT Apexindo Pratama Duta Tbk said on Friday it has obtained a new geothermal drilling contract from geothermal power plant developer PT Pertamina Geothermal Energy (PGE).
The company said in a filing with the Indonesia Stock Exchange that the US$22.02 million semi integrated project management contract for onshore drilling at PGE?s Lahendong geothermal work area in North Sulawesi will expire on June 18, 2018.
Apexindo plans to grab five new geothermal drilling contracts this year as part of efforts to compensate for slowing activities in the upstream oil and gas sector due to the weak oil price environment.
The company has previously obtained two contracts including $7.8 million contract from PT Halliburton Logging Service to drill 3 wells at PT Sejahtera Alam Energy?s work area in Baturraden, Central Java. Sejahtera Alam is developing power plant with capacity of 2x110MW in Baturraden.
Another contract worth Rp 110.37 billion was obtained from state-owned electricity firm PT PLN for geothermal drilling at the Tulehu geothermal work area in Ambon, Maluku Province.
In April, Apexindo announced it obtained two new offshore drilling contracts worth a combined $73 million including a $30 million contract from Premier Oil Natuna Sea BV for a period of 459 days, and a $43 million contract from PT Pertamina Hulu Energi Offshore North West Java for a period of 24 months.
Apexindo allocates $10 million for capital expenditure this year, much of which to be used for rig maintenance. The company is optimistic it could increase its rig utilization rate to 70 percent this year from 66 percent last year.
In the first quarter (Q1) of this year Apexindo?s operating revenue dropped by more than 72 percent to $12.09 million from $43.41 million in the corresponding period of last year. The weaker performance came amid weak oil price environment which had prompted many oil and gas companies to withhold investment particularly in exploration activities.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak