Mackenzie to assist Pertamina in selecting Natuna partners

State oil and gas company PT Pertamina has appointed international research and consulting firm Wood Mackenzie to select potential partners in developing the Natuna D Alpha gas block in Natuna sea.

?We (Pertamina) has been appointed Mackenzie to help look for partner. We currently evaluate 10 oil and gas firms who have voiced interest to jointly develop the block,? Pertamina upstream director Karen Agustiawan told reporters on Tuesday.

She did not give further details.

The government has handed over the block to Pertamina after the contract owned by American oil and gas giant ExxonMobil Corp. expired. The block is believed to hold 47 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas, 70 percent of which however contains CO2.

Pertamina?s President Director Ari H. Soemarno earlier said that aside from being strong financially, Pertamina's partners in developing the block should be highly capable in terms of technology given that an advanced technology was needed to separate CO2 from the gas and inject into the soil. ?Besides, the block is under the sea with a depth of 3,000 meters,? he said.

Several oil companies have shown interest in teaming up with Pertamina to develop the block. They include France?s Total, Royal Dutch Shell, StatOil, Malaysia?s Petronas, Thailand?s PTT, PetroVietnam and Italy?s ENI, he added. (godang)