State-owned oil and gas firm Pertamina has its fingers crossed following the submission of its proposals for two major oil fields in Iran. It submitted the proposals for the Ab-Teymour and Mansouri fields to the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) on Sunday during a two-day visit to Tehran that was led by Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution.
Pertamina spokesperson Wianda Pusponegoro said on Monday that the company was optimistic about its chances on the two blocks in Bangestan, South Iran, despite tight competition from other major oil and gas companies from around the globe. “We have a positive outlook on the two blocks, so far, as the energy and mineral resources deputy minister [Arcandra Tahar] and the coordinating economic minister have met with the relevant officials in Iran,” she told. “There will also be a meeting with the minister of petroleum [Bijan Namdar Zangeneh] this afternoon.”
Pertamina’s senior vice president for upstream business development, Denie S. Tampubolon, said it would continue to hold discussions with NIOC regarding the next step in the process, while waiting for the results. According to Pertamina’s six month evaluation, each block has potential reserves of up to 1.5 billion barrels, with potential production rates of 200,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd).
Iran has been seeing a considerable boost in production since, through the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), international sanctions against the country were lifted last year in exchange for Iran disabling much of its nuclear infrastructure. A recent report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) reveals that Iran’s production reached 3.56 million bopd since then. The last time Iran reached such rates of production was in November 2011.
Pertamina, with support from the Indonesian government, wants to take advantage of the reduced sanctions. It negotiated with NIOC to allow it to submit its oil field proposals earlier than its competitors, rumored to include giants such as Russia’s Lukoil and France’s Total SA.
If Pertamina successfully gains shares in the two oil fields, it will be one step closer to its goal of amassing large amounts offossil fiiel reserves through increased overseas partnerships, acquisitions and take overs of oil and gas fields with soon-to-be terminated contracts. It hopes to boost upstream production to 1.9 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) by 2025 from 650,000 boepd last year, as reported in Pertamina’s unaudited report.
Up to 473,000 boepd is set to be required from overseas fields. Experts have emphasized that it is crucial for Pertamina to gain shares in Ab-Teymour and Mansouri as Indonesia’s demand for refined fuel continues to grow. However, Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR) executive director Fabby Tumiwa said that apart from the fiscal and technical proposal submitted by Pertamina, there were several other factors that NIOC would consider before making its final decision.
“There is also Iran’s preference for Indonesia. This will also contribute to the final decision. Pertamina’s efforts should be supported by increased government-to-government cooperation in the energy sector,” he said. Iran has made Indonesia one of its foreign investment destinations and data from the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) shows that Iran was listed as the Middle Eastern country with the second highest amount of realized foreign direct investment in Indonesia with US$ 14.31 million in 2016, after the United Arab Emirates with $55 million.
Meanwhile, during the visit, the Indonesian government has also proposed the possibility of importing liquefied natural ‘gas (LNG) from Iran in order to fulfill the demands of the power and industrial sectors. Last year, NIOC agreed to supply Pertamina with a total volume of 600,000 metric tons of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for 2016 and,20I7. An additional 500,000 tons of LPG will also be shipped this year, as a follow-up to President Joko “J okowi” Widodo’s visit in December.
Jakarta Post, Page-15, Tuesday, Feb, 28, 2017
No comments:
Post a Comment