Pertamina seeks to takeover Attaka, East Kalimantan blocks
Wednesday, November 2 2016 - 03:42 PM WIB
State-owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina has officially made a request to the government to takeover the Attaka and East Kalimantan (EastKal) blocks when the contracts of the existing investors expire.
A source told Petromindo.com on Wednesday that Pertamina had on October 21 filed its request to manage the two blocks, located in East Kalimantan Province, to the government.
?Pertamina is very interested over the two blocks. But they asked the government to merge the two blocks into a single working area. The ministry is still considering the request,? the source said, referring to the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources.
Inpex Corp, the operator of the Attaka block with 50 percent interest, and its partner Chevron Indonesia Company (CICO), have said that they will not request for an extension of the production sharing contract over the block when it expires at the end of 2017.
CICO, which holds 92.5 percent interest in the EastKal block, and its partner Inpex, have also decided not to extend their current contract over the block when it expires on October 2018.
According to the source, one possible scenario is for Pertamina to takeover the operatorship of the Attaka block starting 2018, while the EastKal block will remain operated by CICO until October 24, 2018. The two blocks will then be merged into a single oil and gas working area starting October 25, 2018.
The Attaka PSC, located in the Makassar PSC, contains the giant Attaka field, which was discovered in May 1970 and developed as the first offshore field in Indonesia, with first crude oil and natural gas production occurring in November 1972 from six wellhead platforms.
The East Kalimantan provincial administration has said it wanted to have a participating interest in the Attaka PSC.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak