The onstream blocks are South Jambi B in Jambi, Makassar Strait in South Sulawesi and Selatpanjang in Riau. The three blocks went straight to auction as the current operators will not extend their contracts.
The existing contracts for South Jambi B and Makassar Strait blocks will expire in 2020, while Selatpanjang block will expire in 2021.
“The three other exploration blocks are Banyumas, Andika Bumi Kita and South East Mahakam, all of which have potential investors, but they asked for more time to finalize the assessment,” The ministry’s oil and gas director general, Djoko Siswanto, said on Monday.
The government has set a $5,000 price tag for a bidding document, with a bidding submission deadline of Oct. 12 for onstream blocks and Dec. 10 for exploration blocks.
The ministry is optimistic the blocks will have new operators no later than December.
He explained that Selat Panjang block’s reserves stood at around 4.3 million barrel of oil and 47.8 billion standard cubic feet (bscf) of gas, while South Jambi B’s proven gas reserves stood at 217.2 bscf. (bbn)
Photo source: picture from an open source