Medco sees 50% net rise in reserves after acquisitions
Friday, August 20 2004 - 02:12 AM WIB
"After Santos, our reserves should still be higher by 50 percent, that's combined for oil and gas," Medco investor relation officer Gamala Katoppo said.
Last month Medco agreed to sell some of its newly acquired Novus reserves in Australia and Indonesia to Santos for about US $110 million.
The deal covers the sale of Novus' entire 4.75 percent stake in the Australian Cooper Basin oil and gas block. It also includes the sale of an 18 percent interest in the Brantas block and a 9 percent interest in the Kakap block, both in Indonesia.
Katoppo said that after the deal with Santos, the takeover of Novus will increase Medco's oil reserves by 13 million barrels and its gas reserves by 350 billion cubic feet (bcf). The new Novus reserves are uncertified, he added.
Medco's own certified oil and gas reserves amounted to 113.87 million barrels and 150.05 bcf, respectively, as of December 2003.
Katoppo said Medco will hold a shareholders' meeting next month to approve the sales agreement with Santos.
In an announcement to the Jakarta Stock Exchange yesterday, Medco said it may sell other Novus reserves which are unproductive or too costly to operate.
In June, Medco entered into an agreement with Silk Route Investments to negotiate the sale of Novus' reserves in the US and part of its interests in reserves in the Middle East and Pakistan.
Medco's own oil production has been declining and the company hopes that by selling some of Novus reserves it will raise more funds to look for other acquisitions.
Medco's first-half oil production fell by 22 pct year-on-year to 56,200 barrels of oil per day (bpd) on declining output from its main oil producing fields in the Kaji/Semoga and Rimau blocks in South Sumatra.(*)