The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry plans to auction Rokan Oil Block in Riau in July as the contract between the government and Chevron Pacific Indonesia is slated to end in 2021.
The ministry’s oil and gas director general, Djoko Siswanto, said it was understandable that the block attracted many investors as it was highly productive.
“If there are many bidders, we will auction the block to optimally benefit the government,” he said, adding that state oil and gas firm Pertamina had to compete fairly with other companies if it wanted to win the contract.
Management of the block, which has a production capacity of 230,000 barrels per day (bpd), will not be automatically extended for the existing contractor, Chevron Pacific Indonesia, because many other companies have shown interest in taking over the task.
Chevron and Pertamina have openly expressed their wishes to manage the block. In April, Chevron submitted a proposal to extend its contract for the next 20 years through a gross split scheme.
Pertamina upstream business director Syamsu Alam said Pertamina was eyeing Rokan Block as part of its effort to increase oil production.
“We are interested in managing many large blocks. Rokan Block is one of them,” Syamsu said as reported by kontan.co.id on Sunday.
He added that Pertamina was ready to compete with other companies to win the block.
Chevron Pacific Indonesia’s vice president for government policy and public affairs, Yanto Sianipar, said Chevron respected the government’s right to decide the winner of the contract. (bbn)
