Two provinces to get participating interest in Sebuku PSC

By Febry Silaban

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Sudirman Said has decided to allow two provinces, West Sulawesi and South Kalimantan, to jointly own a 10 participating interest in Sebuku block.

Both provinces have been at the loggerheads over the acreage since 2011 with each of them claiming it is located in their own territory, Sudirman said.

However, the minister said it is actually located more than 12 miles off the coasts of each province. As such, by law, it is under the jurisdiction of the central government rather than each of the provinces. And the ministry has decided to give each of the provinces an equal interest in the block.

The ministry has asked both provinces to set a regional state owned enterprise (BUMD) equally owned by both of them to acquire a 10 percent stake in the block.

?We have offered them a 50-50 percent ownership. Let?s them talk each other,? Sudirman said.

Sebuku PSC is operated by Mubadala with 70 percent interest in partnership with Total E&P Sebuku (15 percent) and Inpex South Makassar Ltd (15 percent). The contract on the block was signed on Sept. 22, 1997 and expires on Sept. 22, 2027.

According to acting Director General of Oil and Gas IGN Wiratmadja, the block has a gas reserve of 236 bcf. It now produces 94 barrels of condensate per day and 99 mmscfd of gas. The gas is all sent to state owned fertilizer firm PT Pupuk Kaltim in Bontang, East Kalimantan.

Editing by Johannes Simbolon