New tender round draws bidders

Some 17 companies thus far have taken the bid document for the 11 oil and gas exploration blocks since the tenders was opened early last month, a government official said Tuesday.

?The companies are based from various countries such as: Malaysia, China, the U.S., and France,? Director of Exploration and Production at Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources Soebijanto told reporters. He declined to give names of the companies, but oil companies such as Unocal Corp. and TotalFinaElf had expressed interest in the tender.

Soebijanto further said the government had planned to promote the tender of 11 exploration blocks at Southeast Asia Exploration conference in Singapore in mid April.

The bids would be closed by July 31.

Government is offering more generous split for investors for the 11 blocks. Investors would get split between 20 percent to 25 percent for oil, and between 35 percent to 45 percent for gas.

The blocks are located in Jambi (2), East Java (7), Central Java (1) and East Kalimantan (1). (godang)