Government to repeat tender for 14 oil, gas blocks

The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources will repeat tender for 14 oil and gas blocks, which had received little interest from investors during offerings made this year.

Director General of Oil and Gas at the ministry IGN Wiratmaja Puja said in a statement on Wednesday that that lack of interest among investors on the oil and gas blocks offered by the government this year was probably due to the weak oil price environment and the lingering regulatory uncertainty in the sector.

Wiratmaja said that the ministry expects more interests from investors in the repeat tender particularly as the government plans to introduce a new gross split scheme. ?We hope it (the repeat tender) will be more attractive (to investors),? he said.

Tender for the 14 oil and gas working areas held this year comprised of seven blocks offered via direct offer mechanism and another seven blocks via regulator tender mechanism. Blocks offered via regular tender included South CPP (onshore Riau), Suremana I (offshore Makassar Strait), SE Mandar (offshore Sulawesi Selatan-Sulawesi Barat), North Arguni (onshore West Papua), Kasuri II (onshore West Papua), Manakarra Mamuju (offshore Makassar Strait), and Oti (offshore East Kalimantan).

Meanwhile, blocks offered via direct appointment mechanism included Bukit Barat (offshore Riau Islands), Batu Gajah Dua (onshore Jambi), Kasongan Sampit (onshore Central Kalimantan), Ampuh (offshore, Java Sea), Ebuny (offshore Southeast Sulawesi), Onin (onshore-offshore, West Papua), and West Kaimana (onshore-offshore, West Papua).

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak