Conoco to invest $2.5 billion in Indonesia

By Febry Silaban

American firm ConocoPhillips is still committed to investing around $2.5 billion in Indonesia in the next two to three years despite the slump in oil and gas prices.

?We have spent $2.5 billion in the past four years and we are still committed to spending a similar amount in two to three years,? Conoco Chairman & CEO Ryan Lance told the press following a courtesy call on President Joko Widodo at the state palace on Tuesday.

Lance was accompanied by Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Sudirman Said, ConocoPhillips Indonesia (COPI) President & GM Erec S. Isaacson, COPI?s VP Commercial & Business Development Taufik Ahmad, and COPI?s VP Development & Relations Joang Laksanto.

Sudirman said COPI has been operating in Indonesia over the past forty years and is still committed to continue participating in developing Indonesia?s energy sector.

"Aside from gas, COPI contributes oil to Indonesia, accounting for 5-10 percent of Indonesian oil production and 24 percent of the national LPG production,? Sudirman said

?COPI is an important partner. What is important is that COPI is still committed to investing in Indonesia despite the current oil prices,? Sudirman added.

The company currently operates five PSCs, including one offshore block, the South Natuna Sea Block B PSC, and four onshore blocks, the Corridor PSC and the South Jambi 'B' PSC, both in South Sumatra, the Warim PSC in Papua and the Palangkaraya PSC in Central Kalimantan.

Editing by Johannes Simbolon