Pertamina's Sarawak oil field to start production Q2 2008

State-owned oil and gas company Pertamina will begin production at its SK 305 Sarawak block in in the second quarter of next year, with an initial output of  about 3,000 barrels of oil a day.

 

"We have found oil in the area, and we hope we will be able to begin production in the second quarter of next year," Pertamina's director for upstream operation Sukusen Soemarinda said in Jakarta Tuesday.

 

He said that production at the block jointly owned by Pertamina, Petronas of Malaysia and PetroVietnam of Vietnam was initially scheduled in the first quarter of  next year.

 

According to him, Pertamina has spent between US$6 million to $10 million for exploration in the block, not including those that had been spent by its two partners. The block is estimated to hold oil reserves of about 22 million barrels of oil.

 

The block is operated under the Joint Operating Company (JOC) scheme called PCPP, where Petronas has a 40 percent stake, while Pertamina and PetroVietnam have a 30 percent stake each.

 

Block SK305 is located in water depth of 150 metres in Balingian, offshore Sarawak , covering an area of about 15,164 sq kilometres. (godang)