Govt to offer 8 conventional oil and gas blocks

The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources plans to offer eight conventional oil and gas blocks this year, consisting of four blocks which will be offered through diect offer tender scheme and four blocks through regular tender scheme.

Acting Director General of Oil and Gas I Gusti Nyoman Wiratmadja unveiled the eight blocks in a hearing with the House of Representatives? Commission VII which is in charge of among others energy affairs on Tuesday evening.

The four blocks to be offered through direct offer scheme are:
1. Rupat block, offshore Riau and North Sumatra
2. North Jabung block, onshore Riau and Jambi
3. Southwest Bengara block, onshore East Kalimantan
4. West Berau block, offshore West Papua

The four blocks to be offered through regular tender are
1. West Asri block, offshore Lampung
2. Oti block, offshore East Kalimantan
3. North Adang block, offshore West Sulawesi
4. Kasuri II block, onshore Papua

He also said the number of conventional oil and gas blocks have continued to increase every year. In 2009, there were 228 conventional oil and gas blocks in the country. As of July 1, 2014, the number has increased to 320. This, he said, indicates that investment climinte in Indonesia?s upstream sector is still good enough.

The number of non-conventional oil and gas blocks is also increasing. The coal bed methane (CBM) blocks, which were first auctioned in 2008, has reached 55 now. Meanwhile, shale gas blocks were first offered in 2013.

As of July 1, 2014, the number of conventional and non-conventional oil and gas blocks reached 320, consisting of 58 producing blocks, 22 development blocks and 240 exploration blocks.

Editing by Johannes Simbolon