MEO considers JSA in Seruway PSC

By Febry Silaban

Australian firm MEO Australia Ltd. is considering a joint study application (JSA) for the Seruway PSC to obtain an extension of the contract on the block.

The PSC expires in December 2014, so it is difficult for the company to perform farm in interest in the PSC which is 100 percent owned by MEO.

The company said in its financial report recently that in June 2011, MEO closed a transaction to acquire all of the shares in Transworld Seruway Exploration Limited (TSEL) which holds a 100 percent interest in the Seruway PSC, offshore North Sumatra, from Transworld Exploration Limited (TEL). The holding company was subsequently renamed Seruway Offshore Exploration Limited (SOEL).

?MEO continued to market the technical and commercial virtues of the permit prospectivity to prospective famines. The reality of limited tenure remaining prior to expiry of the PSC at the end of 2014 represents a significant commercial hurdle to any incoming party,? said the company.

Discussions with the regulatory authorities regarding tenure explored various mechanisms whereby tenure extension might be borrowed from the production licence term. Ultimately, this option was not considered practical and the permit will be relinquished on or before expiry of the PSC in December 2014, according to company.

?Finally, MEO is considering a Joint Study Application over the area covered by the PSC in an effort to secure tenure for another six years following the completion of the 12-18 month joint study,? the company said.

Editing by Johannes Simbolon