Pertamina halts exploration activities in Iraq

State oil and gas company PT Pertamina has temporarily halted exploration activities in Iraq due the worsening security situation in the war-torn country, Neraca daily reported on Monday.

"Activities had been totally halted, and our men in the country including the representatives of Elnusa (Pertamina's subsidiary) had been withdrawn," Pertamina's director for upstream operations, Bambang Nugroho said on Saturday.

Bambang said that the exploration activities would be resumed again when the situation returned to normal.

Pertamina earlier said that the company had started exploration activities in the oil block 3 in Western Desert area in Iraq. The company was also seeking the approval from the Iraqi government to carry out exploration activities in the country's Tuba field, which is estimated to be able to produce 100,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

Besides Iraq, Pertamina also plans to expand its exploration activities in Iran. "We have sent a team of five senior officials to join a tender to explore and produce oil and gas in the country," he added. (*)