Apexindo will build one more oil rig to boost exploration capacity

PT Apexindo Pratama Duta, a subsidiary of PT Medco Energy Internasional, plans to build one more oil rig in a bid to further boost the company?s oil exploration activities, Kompas daily reported on Wednesday.

Apexindo?s president director Hertriono Kartowisastro said in Jakarta on Tuesday that the new offshore oil rig would be in the form of a jack-up rig which would be used to carry out exploration activities under sea with the depth of between 50 feet and 350 feet.

The company which offers oil and gas exploration services both on onshore and offshore oil blocks at present operates 16 rigs consisting of 11 onshore rigs and five offshore rigs. Four of the five offshore rigs are in the form of swamp barge rigs which are generally used for exploration activities undersea with the depth of up to 50 feet.

Hertriono said that he hoped that the contract for the construction of the new rig which would take at least two years to build would be signed this year. ?The company should have between US$98 million and US$105 million in cash to finance the construction of the oil rig,? he added. (*)