Pertamina to explore oil in Makassar St

State owned oil and gas company Pertamina plans to explore oil gas in Makassar Strait and hopes the government will approve the plan, Bisnis Indonesia reported on Thursday.

Pertamina's president Baihaki Hakim said in Jakarta on Wednesday that the state oil company, would soon seek an approval from the company's board of commissioners to carry out the offshore oil exploration in the Makassar Strait.

"We will formally ask the government's approval after we get the green light from the board," said.

According to the existing law, Pertamina holds an exclusive right to explore and produce oil in the country. But most of the oil and gas resources are operated by private oil companies under a production-sharing contract. Pertamina operates some oil fields but their sizes are relatively small and mostly located on shores.

Baihaki acknowledged Pertamina had never received the government's approval to carry out a high-risk oil exploration to limit costs.

According to him, some spots in the Makassar Strait are rich in oil and gas reserves and it will be profitable to operate directly the oil blocks, instead of awarding them to private companies. (*)