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Pertamina to pay for half of Shell’s Masela stake this month
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Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Arifin Tasrif gives a press briefing at the ministry’s headquarters in Jakarta on Jan. 9, 2020. (Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry/Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry)
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tate-owned oil and gas giant Pertamina will make its first payment to take over Shell’s 35 percent participating interest in Maluku’s Masela oil and gas block, the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry announced on Friday.
Minister Arifin Tasrif said Pertamina would pay half of the total price agreed to with Shell and that the process would be completed by the end of the month.
"It is like a down payment, a sign of [Pertamina's] seriousness," Arifin said in a press briefing on Friday.
Read also: Pertamina to conclude takeover of Shell’s Masela shares this month
He declined to say the total acquisition price.
Previously, the government had expressed frustration over what it said was Shell’s slow exit from the liquified natural gas (LNG) project, amid stiff negotiations over the sale of the British oil and gas firm’s participating interest.
Shell was estimated to be willing to let go of its interest for around US$1.4 billion, according to the National Energy Board (DEN) secretary general Djoko Siswanto, but other estimates were as high as $2 billion.
