Minister encourages oil investors to explore more in east Indonesia

Unexplored oil and gas reserves in eastern Indonesia will play a vital role in securing the country?s energy needs in the future. Therefore more investment is necessary to develop the area, a minister said Wednesday.

?As many oil and gas fields are maturing ? continuing their natural decline ? we?re optimistic that frontier and deep water areas, which are mostly located in the eastern part of Indonesia, will contribute significantly to future production,? Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Darwin Zahedy Saleh said in a speech at the opening ceremony of ?The 35th Indonesian Petroleum Association (IPA) Annual Convention and Exhibition? at the Jakarta Convention Center.

The government has launched several initiatives to encourage investment in the area, such as increasing the number of offered working acreages for oil, gas, coal bed methane (CBM) and geothermal sources, he said.

?We are upbeat seeing the positive responses to new blocks offered in deep water and frontier areas such as Semai, Halmahera, West Aru, Southwest Timor and South Java,? Darwin said. (godang)