Medco may pull out of Myanmar

PT Medco Energi Internasional, Indonesia's biggest publicly traded oil company, may pull out of Myanmar this year after spending $12.5 million in a failed attempt to boost its oil and natural gas reserves. The company spent the money on seismic surveys and two wells, said Chief Executive Hilmi Panigoro.

While Medco found gas in one well, it wasn't enough to make a profit, he said. Medco planned to spend as much as $22 million in Myanmar over the next four years, former President Director John Karamoy said in August. "We think we drilled the best prospects," Hilmi said in an interview. Medco is talking to rivals that might take a majority share in the Myanmar project before "giving it up completely," he said. (*)