Pertamina says 12 fields draw bidders

Pertamina EP, an upstream arm of state oil and gas firm Pertamina said that 12 out of 14 areas it offered to be jointly managed has drawn interest from potential investors.

Pertamina EP Corporate Secretary Suharyanto said Pertamina had received 42 bidding proposals from 29 companies for the twelve fields it offered. He said on Monday interview that Pertamina is currently evaluating the proposals, assisted by independent consultant, and said winners announcement would be made within weeks? time.

He declined to give names of the companies that submitted the proposals.

Two of the areas that failed to draw bidder are Tanjung Barat in Jambi and Tebing in North Sumatra, he said.

Pertamina is seeking partners to develop many of its fields due to the lack of resources and pressure by the government on the firm to develop the fields. The fields are located in various parts of the country.(alex)