Medco submits bid document to acquire ExxonMobil assets in Arun

IDX-listed oil and gas company PT Medco Enegi Internasional Tbk confirmed that it has submitted bidding documents to acquire assets of ExxonMobil Indonesia in Block B Arun, Aceh, North Sumatera offshore block and ExxonMobil ownership in PT Arun Natural Gas Liquefaction (Arun NGL) in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam.

?God willing, we have submitted our offering documents to Exxon,? President Director of Medco Energi, Lukman Mahfoedz told Petromindo.com.

Medco is competing with other bidders, state oil and gas company PT Pertamina, PT Intera Arun Energi which is jointly bidding the assets with PT Ratu Prabu Energy Tbk, and PT Energi Mega Persada Tbk (EMP), a member of Bakrie group of companies.

ExxonMobil has set December 15 as deadline for interested parties to submit documents.

When asked whether Pertamina has submitted bidding documents, Director for Upstream of Pertamina, M. Husein declined to comment.

Exxon?s oil, gas operations in North Aceh has been exporting gas since 1978 in the form of LNG that was processed at Arun NGL. Exxon also supplies gas to local fertilizer plant. It decided to sell the assets after productions have consistently declined due to depletion of reserves.

At its peak in 1994, the Arun Field produced about 3.4 BCFD of gas and about 130,000 barrels of condensate per day (1989).

President Director of Intera Arun Energi, Maman Budiman, said Intera and its partner in the bidding, had formally submitted bidding document to acquire the ExxonMobil?s assets in Arun.

?We have submitted our bidding document directly to ExxonMobil at 00.00 Western Indonesian Time, or 11.00 mid-day in the US,? Maman told Petromindo.com. (godang)