Govt to extend Sanga Sanga block contract: Official

By Bernard Loebs

The government will extend the current contract of Virginia Indonesia Co (VICO) over the Sanga Sanga block in East Kalimantan which is set to expire in 2018, according to a senior official.

Djoko Siswanto, Acting Oil and Gas Upstream Director at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, told Petromindo.com on Monday that the contract extension will be given on the condition that state-owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina and East Kalimantan provincial administration-owned company (BUMD) can have interest in the block.

VICO, the operator of the Sanga Sanga block, submitted last year a request for the contract extension, this portal reported. Pertamina has also expressed interest to take over the block after the current contract expires in 2018. The state-firm, in fact, wanted to enter the block before the expiry of the contract.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak