Pertamina, Petronas to jointly develop Tiku oil field

State owned oil and gas company Pertamina and the Malaysian state owned oil and gas company Petronas have agreed to jointly develop the Tiku oil field in the coastal area of Agam regency in West Sumatra, Neraca reported on Monday.

Deputy regent of Agam, Syafruddin Arifin, said last week that the two companies had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) agreement on the joint development of the oil field several months ago.

According to him, several companies, including Malaysia Saga Oil and another one from Australia had carried out preliminary exploration activities on the oil field. But, they later discontinued their activities, because the regency administration turned down their requests related to share split in the field's output.

He said that Pertamina and Petronas would likely begin their exploration activities after the completion of the country?s general elections in 2004. ?Both firms put the political condition in Agam and in Indonesia in general into consideration in their exploration plans,? he added.(*)