Jakarta govt-owned firm interested in SES block

By Febry Silaban

A Jakarta administration-owned enterprise (BUMD) has expressed interest to upstream authority SKK Migas to take a Participating Interest (PI) in the South East Sumatra (SES) block, South Sumatra.

"Jakarta Provincial administration has already established a company to enter the oil and gas sector. Mr. Ahok (Jakarta Governor Basuki T. Purnama) has asked the head of SKK Migas for the PI in managing the SES block," Taslim Z. Yunus, SKK Migas' Head of Program and Reporting, who is also acting spokesman of the agency, told Petromindo.com.

According to Taslim, in fact the Jakarta government was also keen to acquire interest in ONWJ block which is operated by PHE ONWJ."Unfortunately, the government of Jakarta Province was too late to get it,? he said.

The current contract for the SES block is scheduled to expire in 2018. The SES block is located in the shallow water (17-55 m) of the Java Sea in southeast of Sumatra, about 90 km northwest of Jakarta.

CNOOC SES Ltd as operator has 65.54 percent interest in the block, while the remaining interest is owned by Pertamina Hulu Energi OSES(20.55 percent), Saka Energi Sumatra (8.91 percent), and KUFPEC Indonesia (SES)B.V. (5 percent).

This portal reported Monday that China National Oil Offshore Company (CNOOC) SES Ltd is in the process of farming out interest in the South East Sumatra (SES) PSC.

According to Taslim, CNOOC is not sure that they will be allowed to continue being operator of the block if it is taken over by state owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina (Persero) after its expiry in 2018.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak