Pertamina told to quickly start exploration activity in East Ambalat block
Wednesday, January 11 2017 - 04:38 AM WIB
Petromindo
The government has asked state-owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina to quickly start exploration activity at the East Ambalat block, northeast Kalimantan, bordering Malaysian territory.
Pertamina was assigned contract to operate the abandoned East Ambalat PSC by the government in February of last year.
?We have assigned Pertamina to immediately manage and operate the East Ambalat block. We want exploration activities there,? said Director General of Oil and Gas at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources IGN Wiratmaja Puja to Petromindo.com on Wednesday.
In response, Pertamina Upstream Director Syamsu Alam assured that the company is ready to soon start exploration activity in the block. ?We?re now preparing plan to start the activity as requested by the government,? he said, but did not provide further details.
The East Ambalat PSC, located in the Tarakan Basin offshore northeast Kalimantan, and covers an area of approximately 4,739 sq km, was awarded in December of 2004 to Unocal East Ambalat Ltd. (now Chevron East Ambalat Ltd) for a term of 30 years but the company relinquished the block in 2010.
Malaysia also claims rights over the East Ambalat block.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak