Tender results of oil and gas blocks may be delayed

The government may delay the announcement of tender results for seven oil and gas blocks and the plan to offer 10 new blocks, which are scheduled to be announced in March and June 2004 respectively, the Bisnis Indonesia newspaper reported in its Saturday edition.

Novian M. Thaib, director of production and exploration at the ministry of energy and mineral resources? directorate general, said the delay was due to the ongoing negotiations between his ministry and the ministry of finance regarding changes in the composition of oil and gas output split between the government and the contractor.

?Because of this, the announcement of result for seven blocks, which was scheduled for March, and the plan to offer 10 blocks in June, would likely to be postponed,? Novian told the Bisnis in Jakarta on Friday.

He didn?t mention when would the government announce tender result because it would depend upon the outcome of the negotiations between the two ministries.

?Later, may be together, because bid information is not yet made public,? he added.

Oil and gas directorate general announced on October 14, 2003 that tender notices will be issued for 10 new oil and gas blocks and their result will be announced in June 2004. As far as the seven oil and gas blocks are concerned, the mechanism, which is in line with the direct offer would likely be announced in this month.

Novian declined to mention the names of the companies that are vying for the seven blocks.

The seven blocks are Bulungan, Nunukan, Tigau and Ambalat (East Kalimantan), Seruway (Aceh), Lubuk Linggau and Boven Digul (Papua).

The directorate general, according to Novian, is drafting terms and conditions for the 17 oil and gas blocks. (*)