Indonesia Grants New Oil Blocks Contracts

Indonesia has announced the winner of its third bidding round that will operate oil and gas blocks in three locations, Deputy Energy Minister Arcandra Tahar, said on Thursday.

The winners are Pearloil (Theralite) Ltd. for South Andaman block, located at offshore Andaman Aceh; Talisman Java B. V. and Mitsui Oil Exploration Co. Ltd. for South Saka Kemang block, located at onshore South Sumatra; and Pertamina for Maratua block, located at both onshore and offshore North and East Kalimantan.

There was no winning bid for Anambas block, located at offshore West Natuna.

Tahar also announced a 20-year contract extension for Medco E&P Rimau, a unit of Medco Energi Internasional, for the Rimau block which due to expire in 2023.

Rimau block's current production is 8,200 barrels oil per day and 3.67 mmscfd of gas. The contract will use gross split production sharing contract (PSC) scheme of which the contractor will get gross split 53 percent for oil production and 58 percent for gas production.

The total oil and gas blocks applying gross split PSC scheme are 36 blocks as of December 2018.

The total signature bonus for the 36 blocks are $895.4 million and firmed commitment of $2.13 billion.

Indonesian government awarded nine new oil and gas blocks to contractors this year, higher from 5 blocks in 2017.

(Reporting by Wilda Asmarini; writing by Tabita Diela; editing by Louise Heavens)