?Bright spot? seen for Pertamina?s plan to acquire oil field in Iraq

By Godang Sitompul

Vice Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Susilo Siswoutomo said there?s a ?bright spot? for state-owned oil and gas firm to be able to acquire a 10-15 percent participating interest in West Qurna oil field in Iraq.

He said that discussion over the acquisition plan has now reached the ?business to business? stage. Susilo also appreciated the support given by the government of Iraq for Pertamina to acquire stake in the field, which has oil production of 1.8 million bpd.

The Indonesian and Iraq governments on March 14 signed MoUs on energy cooperation between the two nations including for Pertamina to acquire the participating interest in West Qurna-1 oil field, which is currently 60 percent owned by ExxonMobil Iraq Limited (EMIL), and 40 percent by Royal Dutch Shell.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak