Pertamina and PTTEP would split the acquired assets of the US company paying the price 50 percent each.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - State energy company PT Pertamina and PTTEP, a Thai oil company, agreed to acquire oil and gas blocks of Hess Corporation in Indonesia at a price of US$1.3 billion.

Pertamina spokesman Ali Mundakir said here on Monday Pertamina and PTTEP would split the acquired assets of the US company paying the price 50 percent each.

"The deal would be settled in line with a number of conditions set in the sale and purchase agreement," Ali said.

Pertamina will be represented by its subsidiary PT Pertamina Hulu Energi and PTTEP by PTTEP Netherlands Holding Cooperatie UA.

With the acquisition, Pertamina and PTTEP would have 75 percent participating interest in the Pangkah block and 23 percent in the Natuna Sea A block.

Both Pangkah and Natuna Sea A are offshore blocks.

Pangkah is located northeast of Java with a production rate of 7,000 barrels of oil per day and 33 million cubic feet per day (MMSCFD)of gas.

The Pangkah block has a proven reserve of around 110 million barrels of oil equivalent.

Pertamina and PTTEP will jointly operate the Pangkah block.

The Natuna Sea A block is located in the West Natuna sea with gas production rate of 220 MMSCFD including 145 MMSCFD from the Anoa field and 75 MMSCFD from Gajah Baru, and oil production rate of 2,350 barrels of oil per day.

The Natuna Sea A block has a proven reserve of around 209 million barrels of oil equivalent.

Other shareholders of Natuna Sea A block are Premier Oil as the operator with a 28.67 percent share , Kufpec as a 33.33 percent owner and Petronas holding a 15 percent stake.

Ali said the acquisition plan is part of Pertaminas ambition to become a dominant player in upstream oil industry in the country in 2015.

"In 2025, Pertaminas oil production is to be pushed up to 2.2 million barrels of oil equivalent per day including from its production units in the country and abroad," he said.

Recently Pertamina wrapped up the process of acquiring oil blocks in Algeria and Iraq .

In Algeria it acquired the 405a block from ConocoPhillips Algeria Limited at a price of US$1.75 billion, adding 23,000 barrels of crude oil to its daily output and more than 100 million barrels to its oil reserves.

In Iraq, Pertamina completed the acquisition of a 10 percent stake in the West Qurna I block from ExxonMobil Iraq Limited.

West Qurna I , which is located near the city of Basra, southern Iraq, has production rate of 500,000 barrels of oil per day.

With the 10 percent stake acquisition , Pertamina will have a share of 50,000 barrels of crude oil per day from the block.

The share is expected to increase as oil production of the West Qurna 1 block is expected to rise to more than 1 million barrels per day in the near future.

The West Qurna block has a reserve of around 9 billion barrels of oil .

With the ambitious expansion abroad, Pertamina hopes to break into the ranks of world class oil companies in the next several years.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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