Semco to revive old oil wells in Sambutan, Samarinda

PT Semberah Persada Oil (Semco), a technical assistance contractor (TAC) of Pertamina, plans to revive old wells in Sambutan village, Samarinda that had been sealed for the past 70 years since the Dutch colonial time.

Semco chief executive officer Reiner A Latief told East Kalimantan deputy governor for economic affairs Chaidir Hafieds in the latter's office, that the company would employ only local people to revive old oil wells in the area.

Chaidir then suggested Semco to coordinate with the Samarinda regency and make approaches with local people to prevent possible future conflicts with local people.

Reiner said his party would soon coordinate with all related parties and hoped that the oil exploitation activities in Samarinda would expand Semco's operation from Semberah, its current and only oil field.

He noted that the economic crisis that had plagued Indonesia since mid-1997 had driven away some oil investors, and this opened investment opportunities for local oil businesses such as Semco.

"When the economic crisis is gripping Indonesia, a number of prospective investors in the oil sector cancel their plan to enter Indonesia. For us, this is an opportunity to grab a portion that has been enjoyed by foreign oil contractors," Reiner said.

Unlike foreign oil companies that operate in Indonesia based on production sharing contract, in which the investors prospect for oil from the very early stage such as seismic and oil exploration, Semco operates based on technical assistance contract, in which Semco does not start from the very beginning but rather reviving old wells or take over dry wells from Pertamina. (*)