Medco, Petronas find no oil in two South Sumatra oil wells: official

The publicly listed oil and gas company PT Medco Energi Internasional and Malaysia?s Petronas have found no oil in two oil wells in the South Sumatra Pasemah block, the Republika daily reported Wednesday.

The paper quoted Medco financial director Sugiharto (eds: one name) as saying that the company had teamed up with Petronas since the past year to explore oil in the Pasemah block.

He said that in the first phase the drilling activity was concentrated in three oil wells. He said that since there was no oil found in two wells, the exploration activity was now concentrated in one oil well.

?If the third oil well does not provide a significant oil, Petronas can focus on other drilling targets,? he said.

He said that the total investment for the oil drilling activity was estimated to be around US$4 million.

Medco is controlled by local oil tycoon Arifin Panigoro, who has been also an active politician at the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, the largest party in the parliament. The company last year produced around 80,000 barrels of oil per day, and this year, production was projected to increase to 93,000 bpd, Sugiharto said.(*)