Chevron has submitted an official letter asking for the postponement to the acting ESDM Minister Chairul Tanjung.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Chevron Indonesia Company has asked for postponement of the Indonesian Deep water Development (IDD) project in the Makassar strait, the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry said.

Chevron asked for the postponement as it wants revision of the contract because of change in the economic value of the project, Director of Upstream Oil and Gas at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry Naryanto Wagimin said.

"Chevron has submitted an official letter asking for the postponement to the acting ESDM Minister Chairul Tanjung," Naryanto said.

"They said there is additional reserve. The economic value of the project, therefore, is higher," he said.

Based on earlier estimate the IDD project was to produce 1,270 million cubic feet of gas per day (MMSCFD) from four blocks -- Ganal, Rapak, Makassar Strait, and Muara Bakau with five fields -- Bangka, Gehem, Gendalo, Maha and Gandang fields.

The blocks of Ganal, Rapak, and Makassar Strait are operated by Chevron, and the Muara Bakau block by Eni Spa.

The Bangka field was expected to be operational in 2016 to be followed by Gehem and Gendalo in 2018.

Part of the production will be exported to and the rest would be for domestic consumption.

Based on official production split , at least 25 percent of IDD production is for domestic consumption.

Around 53 cargoes of the domestic share of the production are to be supplied to the West Java (2018-2021), 30 cargoes to the Arun Terminal (2017-2021), 37 cargoes to Lamoung FSRU (2016-2018), 30 cargoes to Banten FSRU Banten (2016-2021), and 39 cargoes to Central Java FSRU (2016-2021).

Chevron already has a captive buyer for the gas from the IDD for a certain quantity which will enable the project to reach the phase of final investment decision (FID).

However, the US oil giant is still waiting for an extension of the contract which will expired in 2020 for the Makassar Strait block . The company asked for an extension until 2028.

Chevron also proposes for an increase in the IDD investment from US$6.9 billion in line with the expansion plan in 2008 to US$12 billion .(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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