Major foreign oil firms eye 30 oil and gas blocks
Friday, September 15 2006 - 01:49 AM WIB
Director general of oil and gas at the ministry of energy and mineral resources R Priyono said that the foreign companies have already picked up the tender documents. They are interested in 30 blocks ? both offered through regular tender as well as direct offer mechanism.
?Generally, the companies that have picked up the documents are those which are operating in Indonesia for a long time. Local companies will also do likewise soon,? Priyono said after attending a national seminar entitled ?Enhancing the Performance of Indonesia?s Power Sector? at Hotel Le Meridien in Jakarta on Thursday.
According to Priyono, some local companies have also picked up tender documents but he declined to name those companies.
?It?s clear that until this time, Medco Energi and Pertamina have yet to take the documents. Perhaps, Pertamina is consolidating (its position) to optimalize the blocks,? Priyono said.
He said the most of the companies are running after the blocks that have a bigger production sharing split ratio in Kalimantan, Sumatra, Makassar and Natuna.
Meanwhile, 10 blocks that previously failed to attract investors during the last year?s tender have managed to attract several companies thanks to the availability of new drilling technology.
On August 28, the government offered 41 blocks ? 20 blocks through regular tender and 21 through direct offer. The last date for submission of bids will be in the middle of October.
? After that it will take one month to evaluate the bid documents and by end of November we will know the winners,? Priyono said.
According to him, the government expects to raise a "signature" bonus of up to 51 million from the tender of the 41 oil blocks. The bidders are required to pay between US$1 to 5 million for each block. "The block will be given to the bidder willing to pay higher than the minimum requirement," he said. (*)