Petronas awarded Indonesia exploration block

Malaysia's national oil company Petronas said Tuesday it had won bid from Indonesian government for the Tanjung Aru exploration block in Makassar Straits, East Kalimantan

However Petronas said the bid award for what would be its third block in Indonesia was subject to President Megawati Sukarnoputri's approval and execution of the production-sharing contract.

Petronas said its subsidiary Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd would hold a 50-percent working interest in the Tanjung Aru Block with Amerada Hess acting operator having the other 50 percent equity.

Petronas said in a statement the Tanjung Aru Block, which covers some 4,160 square kilometres (1,606 square miles) with water depths ranging from 150 meters to 1,700 meters, is in the higly-prospective Kutei basin, where a number of large oil and gas discoveries have been made in the past few years.

Petronas Carigali also holds a 50-percent working interest in each of the other two blocks, namely the Pasemah Block, located onshore south Sumatera and the Ketapang Block, offshore east Java. (*)