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Oil-Gas Task Force keeps patience over dogged operators
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With the Olympic Mountains in the background, a small boat crosses in front of an oil drilling rig as it arrives in Port Angeles, Washington, on April 17, 2015, aboard a transport ship after traveling across the Pacific. Royal Dutch Shell PLC confirmed on May 10, it will relinquish all but one of its federal offshore leases in Alaska's Chukchi Sea. Shell spent $2.1 billion on 275 Chukchi Sea leases in 2008 and $7 billion overall on Arctic offshore development. Shell was the only company actively drilling in the Chukchi. (seattlepi.com via AP/Daniella Beccaria)
O
nly two of 19 oil and gas operators in Indonesia have fulfilled the terms of their contracts. However, the Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Special Task Force (SKK Migas) will not act hastily to punish the operators who have not fully realized their commitments.
Based on the last three years of performance of those operators, who were working on a total 113 blocks in that period, only two of them have realized all the agreements in their contracts in terms of financial, infrastructure and environmental obligations.
The other 17 operators were yet to fulfill their contracts, arguing that they have been hindered by limited capital due to the sluggish oil market, said SKK Migas spokesman Zikrullah.
"Most of the problems are internal. Right now, the oil price has reached $45 per barrel, after reaching $30 per barrel. Based on the research, it should ideally stand at $50," he said in Jakarta on Thursday.
Therefore, Zikrullah continued, SKK Migas had chosen to take a soft approach rather than cancel the contracts held by those 17 operators. "We will approach and help them. Rather than finding new investors, it will be better to solve the problems of existing investors," he said.
The Task Force expressed its appreciation toward the two operators who were maintaining exploration despite the low oil price. By exploring and building supporting infrastructure at this moment, they will benefit when the price recovers.
Supporting companies have cut their service charge, which allows operators to carry out exploration and production activities at discounted prices.
"The offshore [service] charge is now around $7.2 million from the normal rate of $20 million. It is very cheap. So if you want to drill, do it right now," Saka Energi Indonesia general manager of operations Tombur Parlindungan told thejakartapost.com. (ags)
