CNOOC, Pertamina discuss upstream cooperation

China's sole offshore oil operator, and state oil company Pertamina (P.PTM) have been in talks on upstream investment issues in Jakarta since Tuesday, a CNOOC official told Dow Jones Newswires Wednesday.

A CNOOC delegation led by company chairman Wei Liucheng arrived in Jakarta Tuesday for a two-day visit to discuss issues about possible investment by CNOOC in Indonesia's upstream sector.

The delegation will arrive in Singapore for a one-day stopover Thursday.

Industry sources said Pertamina was keen to have CNOOC share some gas reserves in its Tangguh natural gas reserves so as to secure a sales contract or contracts to provide China 3 million metric tons of liquefied natural gas a year by 2005.

A CNOOC-led consortium will start accepting bids for the contracts this month. Indonesia is one of the three short-listed countries for the bids. The other two are Australia and Qatar.

The Tangguh field is slated for development some time this year.

In January, CNOOC purchased five oil and gas assets in Indonesia from Spain's Repsol YPF S.A. (REP) for US$585 million. (*)