BP plans to invest US$2-3b in RI oil, gas industry
Wednesday, August 22 2001 - 02:32 AM WIB
?Our company?s interests are not only in the upstream, but also include the downstream businesses in both oil and chemicals,? he said in a speech at the opening of an oil and gas conference in Jakarta Tuesday.
?Despite the recent economic crisis, Indonesia is still attractive to oil and gas investors,? he said.
Schrader said that over the past 30 years, BP had played a major role in developing the country?s oil, gas and LNG industries.
He pointed out that BP had explored more than 50 million acres, discovering hydrocarbons in excess of 8 billion barrels of oil equivalent, and we are a leading provider of natural gas to Java.
He added that BP had invested over $6 billion in Indonesia?s oil and gas industry.
Elsewhere, Schrader said that national stability was one of the most important aspects for ensuring investments can deliver profitable returns. He added that other important factors attracting investors are security of operations, legal certainty, a fair and impartial judiciary, and the ability to practice good corporate governance.
Turning to international competition, Schrader said that intergovernmental lobbying was critical particularly to win the highly competitive international LNG market.
He said that the current LNG market was supply-long and it was a buyer?s market.
?With gas resource in abundance, and buyers in a position where they can dictate terms and conditions, support from Indonesian government in ensuring a strong government-to-government relationship is critical to win this game,? he said.
Schrader said that with Indonesia?s gas deposits estimated to reach more than 100 tcf and could last for more than 70 years, the country should become the major beneficiary from the global trend of increasing preference for LNG.(Alex/Godang)