Indonesia NEWS

Indonesian Deputy Energy Minister yesterday informed about awarding the West Ganal oil and gas exploration block to a consortium led by Eni. The consortium, which also consists of Pertamina and Neptune Energy, has fixed a commitment of $159.3 million investment for the next three years. The Indonesian government received a signature bonus of $30.1 million through the deal.

Japanese oil firm, Inpex Corp. has reached an agreement with Indonesia for the $20 billion Abadi liquefied natural gas project. In an interaction with reporters at a G-20 energy and environment meeting in Japan, Inpex President informed that the heads of agreement contains a contract extension for Inpex to operate the Masela field until 2055. Inpex holds a 65% stake in Abadi field where Royal Dutch Shell is partner.

Indonesian oil major, Medco Energi has concluded the $517.34m acquisition of Ophir Energy. The UK-based exploration and production firm nodded to the proposed acquisition by Medco Energi in January, 2019. The estimated increase in Medco’s 2019 pro forma production will range around 29% to 110,000 boed. The $517.34 million all-cash acquisition was funded through a blend of existing cash resources and credit received under an agreement from Standard Chartered Bank.

In a major acquisition move, Indonesia’s Medco Energi has settled to acquire London-based Ophir Energy in $511 million. Medco’s recent offer followed the previous offer of $437 million which Ophir rejected stating that it undervalued the company. The Jakarta-based oil and gas group is looking to expand its reach to international assets. Post-acquisition, Medco will gain rights to assets in Tanzania and Mexico.

In a major accident in the South China Sea, an offshore tanker rammed into the pipelay vessel, Star Centurion, and sank the £77 million ship. The collision punctured a hole in Star Centurion, making it tip onto its side. Tanker owner, Bernhard Schulte Ship Management stated that all crew members on the vessel were accounted for. The course of pipelay vessel is thought to have been charted out for Indonesia.

British energy company, Ophir Energy has informed that it has rejected Medco Energi’s International Tbk PT’s potential buyout offer. Indonesian oil and gas group made an unsolicited approach to buy Ophir in October last year offering 340 million pounds in cash. Meanwhile, Ophir’s shares lost almost half of their value after failing to find financing for its LNG project in Africa last year.

Eni has received an approval from Indonesia’s Minister of Energy for the Merakes development project. The project is in the Kutei Basin and will involve the drilling and construction of subsea wells. Eni’s Board of Directors have also given a go-ahead to investment plan for the Merakes project. The CEO commented that “the Merakes Development Project approval is an important step for our strategy in South East Asia”

Indonesian state-owned Pertamina has signed up SK E&C and Hyundai E&C for the $4 billion Balikpapan refinery upgrade project. In the same media briefing, the state oil major also entered into a framework agreement with Oman’s Overseas Oil and Gas LLC (OOG) for the development of a $10 billion refinery and petrochemical complex in Bontang.

Indonesian Merakes project of Eni will start production of natural gas in 2021, informed country’s deputy energy minister. This offshore project is expected to produce 155 mmcfd of natural gas per day initially which might rise to 391 mmcfd. According to the latest revision, Eni and its partner Pertamina will take 67% of crude oil and 72% of natural gas production and the rest will go to the Indonesian government.

According to sources, Indonesia’s state-owned energy company, Pertamina has sent its proposal for the Corridor block in South Sumatra. The ongoing ministerial regulation no. 23/2018 gives Pertamina and other contractors the right for extension bidding. This set of regulation will expire in 2023. Confirming the news, the Director General for Oil & Gas said “I received the initial proposal yesterday,".

Oil giant, Chevron presented its company data to a parliamentary committee in Indonesia on Monday. The estimated production of 2018 of Indonesia decreased this year and was 218,300 bpd which was 247,300 bpd in 2017. These figures include the output projections from 4 Indonesian blocks along with Rokan block. Rokan’s contract will expire in October. Chevron Pacific Indonesia’s first-half oil lifting was reported to be 207,148 bpd.

In a meeting led by Indonesian President, a decision was taken under which Pertamina has to buy all the oil production of KKKS contractors in the country. This and various other decisions were taken, all in order to reduce imports and strengthen the position of rupiah. The export of 100 million tons of coal has already been planned by the government, a step towards the growth of foreign exchange earnings.

The Indonesian Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry floated tenders for six oil and gas blocks were floated yesterday. The blocks on auction are South Jambi B, Makassar Strait, Selatpanjang in Riau, Banyumas, Andika Bumi Kita and South East Mahakam. The ministry priced the bidding document at $5,000.While the bidding submission deadline for onstream blocks is Dec 12th, bids for the exploration blocks will have to be submitted by Dec 10th.

Indonesian state-backed Pertamina is planning to invest $237 million in a bid to develop the recently acquired Sanga Sanga oil block. Senior VP at Pertamina believes that the block has great potential and Pertamina will uphold its production. The estimated cumulative production Sanga Sanga oil block is around 258 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe).

Pertamina will take over the operation of Rokan oil block as soon as the Chevron’s operating contract expires there in 2021, informed the Deputy Energy Minister of Indonesia. Reportedly, the offer made by Chevron for an extension of its contract was very less than that made by Indonesian oil giant. Chevron has acknowledged the news and expressed its disappointment through a written statement.

A source close to the Indonesian oil giant, Pertamina revealed that the company has kept the August import quota of gasoline to about 10 million barrels, unchanged from July. The company is facing problems in achieving target prices and recently canceled a tender that necessitated 500,000 barrels of 92 RON gasoline. Pertamina has sought a total volume of 1.3 million barrels of gasoline for August loading and delivery.

Pertamina has terminated the construction of $800M Bojonegara LNG receiving terminal in Indonesia. The Indonesian oil major had joined hands with the Bumi Sarana Migas (BSM) for the construction of the project while Tokyo Gas had to carry out the engineering and design. Pertamina’s forecast of a sharp increase in gas demand after 2020 was proven wrong with the country still relying on cheap coal.

After its present contract lapses in 2021, Chevron’s Indonesian unit has communicated enthusiasm for continuing with Rokan block operations in the Riau province. The firm wants a more noteworthy share of production from Rokan in the light of the fact that it intends to utilize surfactant enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technology. With the intention of getting a higher share, the company is presently re-evaluating its extension request.