Chevron to focus on development of Makassar Straits? gas fields

U.S. oil firm Chevron Corp said on Wednesday that after selling its interests in exploration fields in East Kalimantan, it would focus on the development of the oil and gas discoveries in the province's Makassar Straits.

?Chevron will focus on the development of Gehem and Gendalo fields offshore Makassar Straits,? Chevron Indonesia's corporate communication manager Ratna Novianti said Wednesday.

Chevron and U.S. oil firm Anadarko Petroleum on Tuesday completed a "sell-to-trade" agreement, under which Chevron will surrender all its non-operating interests in the Bukat, Ambalat, Muara Bakau, Popodi and Papalang exploration blocks to Anadarko. In return, Chevron will get a 40 percent stake in Anadarko-operated North East Madura III block offshore East Java.

"The deal is subject to approval from BP Migas," Ratna said, referring to the country's oil and gas upstream authority.

Chevron obtained all interest in the East Kalimantan blocks following its acquisition of American oil and gas firm Unocal Corp. last year.

Before it was acquired by Chevron, Unocal had planned to install two new deepwater production-processing hubs, respectively at Gendalo, where it had discovered gas reserves of 1.7-3.7 trillion cubic feet (TCF), and at Gehem, where it had found gross gas reserve of 1.1- 2.0 TCF.

With the hubs, Unocal expected to bring Gendalo into production in 2008 and Gehem in 2011. Both fields would supply gas to Badak LNG plant in Bontang, East Kalimantan. The first phase production from Gendalo is estimated at around 300 million cubic feet per day. (godang)