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Pertamina set to operate Sanga-sanga Block
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The logo of state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina (Shutterstock.com/Casimiro PT )
S
tate energy holding company Pertamina is set to operate the Sanga-Sanga oil and gas block in East Kalimantan starting on Wednesday after the government decided to replace the existing operator – oil and gas firm Virginia Indonesia Company (VICO) – with the former.
VICO has operated the block for more than four decades.
Pertamina, which will be represented by its subsidiary Pertamina Hulu Sanga-Sanga (PHSS), will continue the plans made by VICO and will employ existing workers, said head of Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Special Task Force’s (SKKMigas) Kalimantan-Sulawesi chapter Syaifuddin on Monday.
Pertamina will still partner with VICO to operate the block, he said, adding that the company had also vowed to drill two new wells this year and 29 new wells in 2019.
The current production of the block is at around 16,000 barrel oil equivalent per day (boepd) and 70 million metric standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) of gas.
Currently there are seven gas fields in the Sanga-Sanga Block, namely; Badak, Nilam, Pemaguan, Semberah, Mutiara, Beras and Lempake. The gas is to supply the domestic market and also to be exported.
The oil and gas blocks in East Kalimantan, including the Sanga-Sanga Block, contribute 35 percent of national oil and gas production, according to SKKMigas data.
Previously, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Ignasius Jonan said said the Sanga-Sanga Block was one of the 12 blocks that were granted to Pertamina as compensation for the company to implement the government’s program to maintain the fuel prices affordable to the people. (bbn)
