Signing of East Natuna PSC delayed
Thursday, October 6 2016 - 01:16 AM WIB
A consortium comprising PT Pertamina (Persero), Exxon Mobil and PTT Thailand failed to sign the East Natuna production sharing contract (PSC) on Wednesday as targeted earlier by Interim Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Luhut Panjaitan.
Luhut said that the members of the consortium have yet to reach agreement on their respective participating interest in the East Natuna block. ?There are still technical matters that require further discussion, but there has been quite a good progress,? he said, adding that the contract is now expected to be concluded within the next month.
The East Natuna block, formerly called D-Alpha, is estimated to hold up to 200 tcf of gas reserve, the largest gas reserve ever found in Indonesia. However, only 46 tcf of the gas is said to be recoverable due the high CO2 element contained in the reserve.
Meanwhile, Upstream Director of Pertamina, Syamsu Alam told Petromindo.com that during high level meeting on Tuesday with the Directorate General of Oil and Gas, the members of the consortium expressed commitment to support the government?s plan to accelerate the development of the East Natuna block. He, however, said that the company was not aware of target to sign the East Natuna PSC on Wednesday.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak