Italy’s Eni still committed in Indonesia, to invest $400 mln - The Jakarta Post | Company data
(The Insider Stories) — Italian oil and gas company Eni SpA’s (ENI) plans to invest US$400 million in the next four years for exploration in Indonesia have could assure the Indonesian government that the company is here to stay despite difficulties that have prompted competitors to leave the country, with ENI Indonesia managing director Carlo Russo saying Eni will start drilling at the Bulungan block in the Makassar Strait in September. In November, its will drill an exploration well in its Muara Bakau block, located in the same area, The Jakarta Post reports.
New York- and Milan-listed Eni aims to build a stronger presence in Indonesia, with visiting Eni CEO Paolo Scaroni saying Indonesia’s hydrocarbon potential hasn’t declined and Eni would be keen to take over blocks relinquished by other firms as well as bidding for new developments that the government opens up, it says. The Jangkrik Northeast offshore gas field, Eni’s biggest in Indonesia, is in a block relinquished by another company, he says in the report. “We went there and have discovered gas reserves of around 200 million barrels of oil equivalent.” It says Eni holds 55% of the block with the remainder held by Paris-listed GDF Suez (GSZ) and plans output of 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day (boed) by 2016.
It quotes energy minister Jero Wacik as saying the comments by Russo show the investment climate in oil and gas is still conducive following the dissolution last year by court order of regulator BPMigas, which has been replaced by the interim SKKMigas.
U.S.-based ExxonMobil Corp. (XOM), Marathon Oil (MRO), Hess (HES), ConocoPhillips (COP) and Netherlands-based Tately NV returned uneconomic blocks in the Makassar Strait earlier this year while Texas-based Anadarko Petroleum (APC) sold its Indonesian assets to state oil and gas firm PT Pertamina.
France’s Total E&P Indonesie and Canada’s Niko Resources are set to start deep-water drilling in the east of the country this year, it says.
