Medco to issue $100-million Eurobonds by year end

PT Medco Energi International, Indonesia?s biggest publicly trader oil producer, said on Tuesday it will issue at least US$100 million of Eurobonds by the end of this year to finance its oil exploration projects, Dow Jones Newswires reported.

The company issued $100 million of Eurobonds early this year.

The proceeds of the new bond issuance will be used for exploration activities at Medco?s nine oil blocks throughout Indonesia, company financial director Soegiharto told reporters after its annual and extraordinary general shareholders meeting.

Medco also plans to sell around 15-20 percent of its shares in its drilling unit PT Apexindo Pratama Duta in an initial public offering next month, Dow Jones Newswires quoted Soegiharto as saying.

?We expect that the shares can be listed on the Jakarta and Surabaya bourses next month,? Soegiharto said.

Medco is 30 percent owned by Thailand?s state-owned PTT Exploration & Production PCL. (*)