Pertamina submits Mahakam proposal
Friday, February 27 2015 - 01:03 PM WIB
State owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina (Persero) has submitted to the government its proposal for the development of Mahakam block in East Kalimantan, according to a senior official at the firm.
?We just submitted the Mahakam proposal to government,? Pertamina?s Upstream Director Syamsu Alam told Petromindo.com.
Meanwhile, Secretary General at Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources Teguh Pamudji said government would soon discuss the proposal. "We hope the discussion will be completed in mid-March," he said.
Head of Performance Control Unit at the ministry Widhyawan Prawiraatmadja added that it?s up to the government whether to hand over a 100 percent Mahakam management to Pertamina after the existing contract on the block held by French firm Total S.A. and Japanese firm Inpex Corp. expires in 2017.
"It is for Pertamina to decide how it will go, whether to invite Total or not," he said.
According to Widhyawan, a decision to hand over the block to Pertamina is in accordance with Government Regulation No. 35/2004 on the Upstream Oil and Gas.
Director of Upstream Oil and Gas at the ministry Naryanto Wagimin echoed Widhyawan?s statement, saying the government will not choose any partners for Pertamina. "It's up to Pertamina (to choose its partners," he said.
Editing by Johannes Simbolon