Indonesia has awarded 14 oil and gas blocks to firms including Spanish giant Repsol and a consortium of Talisman Energy and Thailand’s PTT Exploration and Production, an official said on Friday.The move is part of Indonesia’s efforts to boost investment and oil and gas reserves as current production dwindles. Indonesia has turned into a net importer of crude oil in recent years as production has slumped. It has been offering new exploration rights and financial incentives for oil fields in a bid to stem a steady decline in production.
‘There are potential of oil and gas reserves in those 14 areas that we have awarded, but we have to wait until they conduct exploration,’ Edy Hermantoro at the energy ministry said.
The 14 blocks have planned total exploration investments of US$146 million, he said. — Reuters, Bloomberg