Unocal to carry out seismic survey in Kutai

Unocal will soon carry out a seismic survey along the coastal area of Kutai Kartanegara (Kukar) regency and Balikpapan as part of the company?s expansion in East Kalimantan province, local newspaper Kaltim Post reported on Thursday.

During a meeting with government senior officials in Kukar regency on Wednesday, Unocal?s representative Sudarmo said that the seismic survey would be carried out at the end of July, this year.

?We hope the seismic survey could be completed within two months,? he said in the meeting. During the meeting, Sudarmo said that the company would hire local residents in conducting the seismic survey activities.

Unocal Corp?s vice president for international energy operations, Randy Howard, said earlier that Unocal would double its investment in Indonesia in the next five years to about US$300 million a year.

He said that Unocal could be producing 1.5 billion cubic feet per day of gas from the company?s offshore Kalimantan operations. The company?s current gas production is 200 million cubic feet per day. (*)