Govt gets US$164m from sales of Wortel field?s gas

The government has revealed that state revenue from the sales of 50 bbtud gas from Santos Pty. Ltd-operated Wortel field, located offshore Madura Island in the Sampang PSC, East Java, amounted to US$164 million.

Of the total 50 bbtud, 30 bbtud of which is sold to the Grati power plant in Pasuruan, East Java, owned by PT Indonesia Power, and the remaining to local administration-owned companies in Sampang and Pasuruan.

?The biggest contribution came from the sale of gas to Indonesia Power, which is US$98 million,? said Gde Pradnyana, Head of Public Relation, Security and Formality Division at Upstream Oil and Gas Regulator (BPMIGAS), on Tuesday.

Gde said that BPMIGAS has always encouraged such a deal, where gas produced by a field is distributed to nearby industries. ?In East Java, no gas (produced within the province) is sold outside the province, so the gas usage could create multiple effects on regional economic activities.?

But, Gde added, consumers should always be willing to purchase at a proper price. BPMIGAS therefore welcomed an agreement on gas purchase from the Maleo field between Santos and state-owned gas distributor PT PGN signed on November 7, 2011.

The agreement basically increases the gas selling price. The Maleo field started to supply gas to PGN in 2006 amounting to 110 bbtud at a price of US$2.14 per mmbtud. Under the new agreement, the gas is priced at US$5 per mmbtud with a 3% increase every year. ?With this price agreement, both the buyer and seller are mutually benefited,? said Gde.

Gde is hopeful that a similar agreement could be reached in other gas contracts which still set the price below US$3 per mmbtud. ?Moreover, an improvement in domestic gas price means also an increase in state revenue.? (godang/bernard/giok)