Pertamina to continue overseas acquisition

Petromindo

State-owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina aims to continue overseas acquisition and optimization of its existing overseas assets in a bid to help meet domestic growing demand for oil and gas.

Pertamina Upstream Director Syamsu Alam said in a statement on Sunday that the company has been targeted to have oil and gas production of 1.9 million barrels of oil equivalent (boepd) by 2025, of which about 33 percent is expected to be contributed by its overseas assets.

Pertamina currently has assets in 12 countries. The company has added two additional oil and gas blocks in Nigeria and Gabon into the list of its overseas producing assets including in Algeria, Iraq and Malaysia.

Meanwhile, seven overseas blocks are currently still at the stage of exploration including in Namibia, Tanzania, Myanmar, France, Italy, Cambodia and Canada. ?We?re thankful that Pertamina is now presence in 12 countries,? Syamsu said.

Syamsu said that to help meet the production target, Pertamina will also acquire assets at home. He said that the company is ready to acquire eight oil and gas blocks whose contracts are set to expire next year. The government has decided to transfer the blocks to Pertamina after the existing contracts expire.

Syamsu said that Indonesia is actually is still enjoying surplus of energy output. He pointed out that in 2015, national energy output totaled 354 tons of oil equivalent, comprising of 217 tons of coal and the remaining 113 tons are in the form of oil, gas and renewables. Meanwhile, demand stood at 195 tons of oil equivalent.

The problem is, Syamsu said, about 60 percent of the demand is fulfilled by oil and gas and renewables. ?If not anticipated, this condition could create oil and gas deficit,? he said.

Syamsu said that the huge dependency on oil and gas comes amid depleting oil and gas reserves in the country. Indonesia?s oil reserves level is now ranked 26th in the world at 4 billion barrels, while gas reserves level is 14th in the world with reservers of 100 tcf.

?The move by Pertamina to operate overseas oil and gas blocks is to help strengthen national reserves and production. The overseas production are brought home to be processed at refineries in Indonesia to meet domestic fuel oil demand,? he said.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak