Pertamina wants Petronas? quicker decision over E. Natuna gas project

State oil and gas firm Pertamina on Thursday called on Malaysia?s national petroleum enterprise Petronas to more quickly decide whether it will participate to tap East Natuna Block D Alpha giant gas reserves.

Pertamina?s upstream director Iin Arifin Takhyan said the sooner Petronas decides to get involved in D Alpha Block project the better. This was because some seven years would be required to develop the gas project, Iin Arifin said.

?We want the two parties to reach final agreement on the project in 2003,? Iin Arifin told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar in Jakarta.

Pertamina had in fact tried to lure Petronas on D Alpha Block for instance by opening for Petronas its data room on the block. But negotiations between them remained slow.

D Alpha Block contains an estimated 210 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of gas, but due to high sulphur content, only 45 TCF are thought to be recoverable commercially.

U.S. oil major Exxon Mobil Corp. has 76 percent stake in the block, while Pertamina has the remaining 24 percent.

So far, Petronas has not revealed the portion of the oil block it is seeking, while some reports said Pertamina would be willing to give Petronas 13 percent stake. (godang)