Pertamina will carry out seismic survey in Iraq
Saturday, December 27 2003 - 01:02 AM WIB
?In fact we haven?t started exploration activities because we will focus only on seismic survey in early next year,? Ariffi told Antara news agency on Friday in Jakarta.
He was reacting to comments made by a senior Iraqi oil official on Wednesday who denied press reports that Pertamina would start oil and gas exploration in the country early next year.
What Pertamina did in Iraq was just opened an office in Iraq in order to speed up its business activities there, Ariffi said.
Meanwhile, director-general of oil and gas Iin Arifin Takhyan confirmed the news about seismic survey and said Pertamina will continue its operations in Iraq.
Pertamina has already sent a seismic team to Iraq, Iin said.
Ariffi once said his company would invest around $20 million during the exploration stage.
Last year, Iraq's former government awarded Pertamina block 3 of the giant Iraqi Western Desert oil and gas fields, northwest of Baghdad.
The U.S.-led invasion of Iraq delayed Pertamina's plan to start exploration in the country last March
Iraq's Oil Minister Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloum said last month that he wanted to check the legality of the contracts signed by Saddam Hussein's government, whether they were signed on a competitive basis and if they meet the interests of the Iraqi people.
"After we finish this process, we will announce whether these contracts are viable or not," he said.
But the legality of these contracts is in question, because the deals were signed under U.N. sanctions. They were also signed after direct bilateral negotiations with Saddam's government and not after a competitive bidding process.
Separately, Pertamina?s public relations manager Ridwan Nyak Baik said Iraq?s new government must respect Pertamina?s oil contract, which was awarded by a legitimate government in Iraq.
He said the new government can?t cancel a contract just like that. (*)