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Govt to proceed with oil exploration in Warim block in Papua
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Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Pandjaitan. (JP/Seto Wardhana)
T
he government said it intends to carry out oil and gas exploration in the Warim block in Papua as planned, despite some of the land falling within the Lorentz National Park, a protected UNESCO World Heritage site.
Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Pandjaitan told reporters on Tuesday that the ministerial office had coordinated with the Environment and Forestry Ministry to ensure developments of the oil field could commence in the future.
“We’ve [including the environment ministry] discussed everything,” Luhut said.
“Warim does have a little problem because it's a protected forest but maybe they will [carry out] the drilling obliquely,” Luhut added.
Luhut said state-owned oil and gas giant Pertamina had been working to conduct exploration in the block.
Read also: Indonesia falls behind oil and gas investment target
Warim holds a potential 25.968 billion barrels of oil and 47.37 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of natural gas, according to the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry. The ministry estimates the potency of the block may exceed the Masela Block in Maluku.
