Chevron waits on govt approval on Gehem-Gendalo project

American oil and gas giant Chevron is still waiting for the government to approve its plan of development (PoD) for the Gehem-Gendalo deepwater gas project in East Kalimantan.

The firm submitted the PoD for the Gendalo, Gehem and Bangka fields in the deepwater Kutei Basin in January 2007. It submitted final development plans in August 2007.

In November 2007, BPMIGAS forwarded the PoD to the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources for final review and approval, according to the firm.

"The development timing is dependent on government approvals, market conditions and the achievement of key project milestones," Steve Green, Chevron IndoAsia Business Unit Managing Director, said in a statement to Petromindo.Com.

"Chevron is looking forward to partnering with the government of Indonesia and BPMIGAS to timely develop these fields,"

Partners in the Ganal & Rapak production sharing contract areas in which the Gendalo & Gehem fields lie are operator Chevron (80 percent) and Italy's Eni (20 percent).

Meanwhile, the company said it had yet to receive official notification on the government's approval of its PoD for its West Seno field in Makassar Strait.

On Friday, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources said in a press release that it had approved the revised PoD for Chevron?s West Seno field in Makassar Strait along with PoD for Husky Oil?s BD field offshore East Java

"We look forward to receiving and reviewing the official notification of the revised West Seno PoD to allow for the work process to continue uninterrupted," the company said in the statement. (Denny)