Govt eyes US$4.5b revenue from Sumatra-Malaysia gas deal

A senior official of state oil and gas company Pertamina said Wednesday the government was expected to receive a total revenue of US$4.5 billion from the planned pipeline gas supplies from Sumatra to Malaysia.

?The kickoff of the meeting (between Pertamina and Malaysian state oil and gas firm Petronas) on the gas supply contract will be coming soon ? Government revenue is estimated at US$4.5 billion over the 20-year contract period,? Pertamina?s director of production sharing contract Iin Arifin Takhyan said.

According to Iin, gas supplies to Petronas would be taken from the Corridor block in South Sumatra operated by Gulf Indonesian Resources. Pertamina?s fields in Jambi; the Jambi Merang block, also in Jambi, operated by the joint operating body (JOB) comprising Pertamina and Spanish-Argentinean firm Repsol-YPF, and the Bentu block operated by Australian firm Santos.

Iin said Pertamina expected to sign a contract with Petronas, which will allow the supply of gas from all the fields to Malaysia at the daily rate of 300 million cubic feet per day (MMCFD) for 20 years starting from 2004. (Godang)