Pertamina vows to begin oil exploration in Iraq next year

State-owned oil and gas company PT Pertamina will begin oil exploration activities at Western Desert in the war-ravaged Iraq in early next year in line with its commitment to expand its operations overseas, Bisnis Indonesia newspaper reported on Wednesday.

?Early next year, PT Pertamina will be able to begin exploration work at the site in Iraq. Now we are in the middle of consolidating our relationship with the Iraqi government,? Pertamina?s president Ariffi Nawawi told Bisnis on the sidelines of a seminar and an exhibition organized by the Indonesian Petroleum Association (IPA) in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Pertamina has already completed the administration work and opened an office in Iraq to carry out its activities in that country, Ariffi said.

?The process is so far smooth. Hopefully, it will be safe,? he added.

Earlier, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro said Indonesia and Iraq would continue to cooperate with each other in the oil sector including the Western Desert and Tuba oilfield projects.

?We have already discussed this matter with Iraqi oil minister and Iraq has assured Indonesia that it would pay proper attention toward Indonesia?s interests, Purnomo said after his return from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meeting in Vienna last month.

The government, according to Purnomo, would support Pertamina?s efforts to expand its businesses abroad, including in Iraq.

Pertamina stopped its activities at Block 3 of the Western Desert due to the U.S. attack on Iraq.

Besides Western Desert project, Pertamina has also plans to invest in Tuba oil field, some 20 km west of Basra.

During Saddam regime, India and Algeria had expressed interest in Tuba oilfield which has a potential production capacity of 25,000 barrels per day (bpd). (*)