Oil reserves, main hopes for South Barito

Reservoirs of four oil wells in Patas area in Gunung Bintang subdistrict in South Barito district will become the main hope for the district when local autonomy is implemented next year.

South Barito regent H Achmad Diran said that the four "virgin" oil wells would be enough to keep the administration floating when local autonomy came into force starting Jan. 1, 2001.

The four oil wells were initially included in the national oil reserves, but with the autonomy law, they would belong to the South Barito district.

The regent said that the four oil wells were currently under exploration stage, and he would discuss with the governor to discuss the possibility to exploit the wells.

He said his party was also waiting a response from state oil and gas firm Pertamina to exploit the wells.

Besides the oil reserves, Diran said that his regency was also eyeing coal-mining potentials in Awang subdistrict. With the two resources, the South Barito district was ready to implement the autonomy law, he said. (*)