Chevron to divest interest in South Natuna Sea Block B

PT Chevron Pacific Indonesia plans to sell its 25 percent interest in the South Natuna Sea Block B PSC, offshore Sumatra, Kontan reported on Monday.

The paper quoted Director General of Oil and Gas IGN Wiratmaja Puja as saying that the government has been informed about the divestment plan as the company wants to focus on the Indonesia Deepwater Development (IDD) project, in the Makassar Strait, South Sulawesi.

This portal reported in August that ConocoPhillips, the operator of the Block B PSC with a 40 percent interest, was in the process of farming out its interest in the offshore producing oil and gas field.

Inpex Corp owns the other 35 percent interest in the block.

Meanwhile, Kontan quoted spokesman of the upstream oil and gas regulator SKK Migas Elan Biantoro as saying that while Chevron has informed the authority about the divestment plan, it has yet to make a written statement.

Chevron Pacific Indonesia Corporate Communications Manager Dony Indrawan declined to comment about the divestment plan. Production at Block B currently stands at 300 mmscfd of gas, and 30,000 bpd of oil.

The block was awarded in 1968, and first production came on line in 1979, with expiration scheduled in 2028.

Natural gas produced from the block is sold to Singapore and Malaysia through two long-term contracts via the West Natuna Transportation System Gas Pipeline. (*)