Statoil looks to expand Indonesian portfolio

Norwegian firm Statoil Hydro said it was looking to expand its Indonesian upstream portfolio and is also seeking to enhance cooperation with state oil, gas company PT Pertamina in Indonesia and overseas ventures.

Ananda Idris, GM Government and Public Affairs of Statoil Indonesian unit told Petromindo.Com on Tuesday that the company is ?actively pursuing upstream opportunities in Indonesia?.

During a meeting with Pertamina CEO in Norway recently, Statoil reiterated its interest in participating in the Natuna D Alpha gas field development project and other joint business opportunity with Pertamina, Ananda said. He added that the meeting?s agenda included potential strategic partnership with Statoil in and outside the Southeast Asian country.

Statoil was short listed in 2008 as one of eight potential partners to Pertamina to develop the giant Natuna D Alpha gas field.

?StatoilHydro?s experiences within Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) are relevant to potential storage of CO2 from the Natuna D Alpha field,? Ananda said.

Sources at Pertamina said Statoil, in cooperation with Pertamina is interested to acquire stake at several big upstream projects such as Inpex-operated Masela block and Chevron?s deepwater gas project in East Kalimantan.

Currently, Statoil operates Karama deepwater exploration block offshore Sulawesi in cooperation with Pertamina. The company also has non-operating interest in Kuma offshore PSC, which is operated by ConocoPhillips. (godang)