Pertamina gets confirmation over ownership of asset in Algeria

State-owned oil and gas company PT Pertamina said that the Algerian government has officially confirmed the company?s ownership and operatorship of an oil asset in that country.

Pertamina said in a statement on Wednesday that Algerian state-owned oil and gas company Sonatrach had on August 2 issued a letter confirming PT Pertamina Algeria EP?s (PAEP) ownership of Block 405a.

PAEP, a subsidiary of Pertamina, completed in November of 2013 transaction with ConocoPhillips to acquire the latter?s Algerian Business Unit, ConocoPhillips Algeria Limited (COPAL).

This acquisition allows Pertamina to assume a 65 percent participating interest in Block 405a, which contains three main oil fields: Menzel Lejmat North (MLN), Ourhoud, and EMK.

Pertamina will have a 65 percent participating interest and operatorship in the MLN field and a 3.7 percent and 16.9 percent interest in the Ourhoud and EMK fields, respectively. Since the signing of the agreement, the EMK field has been successfully starting its production.

Pertamina Vice President for Corporate Communication Wianda Pusponegoro was quoted by Investor Daily as saying Thursday that the Pertamina?s share of net output from the Algerian asset continues to increase from 20,000 boepd in the first half of 2015 to 40,000 boepd in the first half of 2016.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak