Govt asks Unocal, TotalFinaElf to set up JV for Donggala block
Friday, September 28 2001 - 06:36 AM WIB
The government has asked US oil, gas firm Unocal Corp. and French energy giant TotalFinaElf to set up a joint venture to develop the Donggala exploration block in the Makassar Straits rather than competing with each other to win the bidding for the block, a senior official at the ministry of energy and mineral resources said on Friday.
The official, who refused to be identified, told Petromindo.Com that the government made the request after finding it difficult to decide which company to win the tender for the block.
He said both companies were equally experienced in developing hydrocarbon resources in deepwater area and had proposed ?equally attractive? bidding proposals for the block to the ministry.
?We have asked the company to set up the joint venture to develop the block but thus far there is no answer to the request,? the official said.
The official said aside from Unocal and TotalFinaElf, a little-known company Excorp had also submitted its bid for the block but it failed to pass the preliminary selection conducted by the government?s bidding team.
The Donggala block is one of the nine new exploration blocks being offered by the government for investors this year, which include six blocks in the Makassar Straits, two blocks in Java Sea and one block in the Natuna Sea.
The six blocks in the Makassar Straits are the Popodi, Donggala, Papalang, Taritip, Jangeru and Tanjung Aru blocks. The two blocks in the Java Sea are the Bawean I and Bawean II blocks, while the block in the Natuna Sea is the Nila block.
However, three of the nine blocks, that is the Taritip, Jangeru and Bawean I blocks, have failed to attract bidders.
The ministry has yet to announce the results of the bidding for the remaining six blocks but sources have said that the ministry had selected the winners of the bidding for five blocks, except for the Donggala block .
The sources said the ministry had named American firm Conoco as the winner of the Nila block, BP as the winner Bawean block and a joint venture of American firm Ameriada Hess and Malaysian firm Petronas as the winner of the Tanjung Aru block.
Conoco and BP have confirmed their winning of the bidding, but they said the results of the bidding have yet to approved by the President.
Two little-known firms registered in the Netherlands ? Zodan NV and Zudavi NV ? have also reportedly been named as the winners of the Popodi and Papalang blocks respectively. Both companies are linked to Malaysian tycoon Ananda Krishnan. (Godang)