Gorontalo has 878b barrels of crude
Saturday, July 15 2000 - 04:00 AM WIB
Gorontalo keeps 878 barrels of crude reserves. That attracts local oil firm Exspan to explore for crude in the area. Exspan president John Karamoy said that the company would explore for crude reserves in North and South Gorontalo basins.
Mining expert Razif Halik Uno revealed that based on data at state oil firm Pertamina and the Directorate General of General Mining, the North Gorontalo basin keeps around 638.4 billion of crude, while the South Gorontalo basins contains 239.6 billion crude.
Razik said that local administrations, with its greater authority under the autonomy law, have to promote the potentials to both local and foreign investors. Otherwise, the potentials would remain untapped.
Nevertheless, he warned that the crude reserves was located deep under the sea level.
According to Subroto, former minister of mines and energy and former secretary general of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), exploration for crude under deep water in Gorontalo would eventually be pursued as the current proven crude reserves Indonesia has will last after 18 years. (*)