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tate-run oil and gas firm PT Pertamina says it will review the opportunity to acquire oil and gas blocks in Kazakhstan as a follow up for the country’s President, Nursultan Nazarbayev, three-day visit to Jakarta.                

Pertamina president director Karen Agustiawan revealed within the next two weeks, representatives from Kazakhstan would come to her to offer potential assets with an estimated oil production of above 50,000 barrels per day (bpd).

“We’ll study the potential of doing business in that country [Kazakhstan],” she told reporters after a courtesy call between Nazarbayev and Indonesian Coordinating Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa in Jakarta on Friday.

However, she said Pertamina had not calculated the amount of investment needed to acquire the blocks.

On that issue, Minister Hatta claimed investing in the oil and gas sector in Kazakhstan would be very beneficial for Indonesia. With only 17 million citizens, he added, Kazakhstan currently produced around 1.6 million bpd of oil and was expected to jump to more than 2 million bpd next year.

“Pertamina will talk with potential partners from Kazakhstan. Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik will then follow up if any deal can be made,” he said.

President Nazarbayev had mandated to his subordinates that Pertamina had to be given the priority to acquire oil and gas blocks in Kazakhstan, Hatta continued. He claimed the government of Indonesia was also very serious in supporting Pertamina to invest in the country.

An energy expert from ReforMiner Institute, Pri Agung Rakhmanto, supported Pertamina’s strategy to add its portfolio by acquiring overseas blocks. He argued the acquisition would not reduce the company’s focus in developing its existing blocks in Indonesia.

“Inside the country, most of the blocks have matured, while the contracts for potential blocks have not ended and are held by other companies. I think, there’s no problem for Pertamina to expand overseas,” he told The Jakarta Post.

Pertamina announced earlier that it aimed to acquire five overseas oil and gas blocks in the Asia Pacific
region through its subsidiary Pertamina Hulu Energi (PHE).

PHE currently owns shares in oil and gas blocks in seven countries: VIC in Australia, Block 3WD in Iraq, Block SK-305 in Malaysia, Block 3 in Qatar, Block 13 in Sudan, Block 17-3 and Block 123-3 in Libya and Blocks 10 and 11.1 in Vietnam.

 As of today, only two out of the nine blocks (in Malaysia and Australia) have begun production activities. The blocks in Vietnam are estimated to contribute their first oil in 2012.

In Iraq and Libya, the company’s exploration activities have been temporarily stopped due to unstable security condition in the two nations.

PHE reported last month the acquisition of overseas blocks would crank up its oil production to 91,000 bpd, ups 46.8 percent from the current production of 62,000 bpd.

 Pertamina canceled its plan last year to acquire a 25 percent stake worth US$3.5 billion in Block 31 in Angola.