Pertamina to allocate $35 million for oil exploration in Iraq

State oil and gas firm Pertamina will allocate US$35 million for oil exploration in Iraq?s Western Desert, company president director Baihaki Hakim said Tuesday.

Pertamina had earlier planned to start exploration activities on the 10,000 sq km Block 4 area around this month, but the plan was delayed due to unfavorable security condition in the region.

?We have delayed our plan due to security reasons,? Baihaki told reporters in Jakarta.

Pertamina?s upstream director Iin Arifin Takhyan said earlier they would start exploration in Western Desert in March.

The exploration project was based on the cooperation agreement signed in April last year by Indonesian and Iraqi governments. (godang)