Eric Watkins
Senior Correspondent
LOS ANGELES, Nov. 10 -- ExxonMobil Corp. will announce the winner of a tender to farm out its 50% share in Block A in Aceh, Indonesia, in first quarter 2006, according to a senior Indonesian official.
Kardaya Warnika, chairman of Indonesia's upstream oil and gas regulatory agency BP Migas, said ExxonMobil had closed the data room for companies interested in bidding for the block. ExxonMobil spokesman Maman Budiman said interested parties were invited to submit bids before Nov. 16.
Kardaya also said that PT Medco Energi Internasional and PT Energi Mega Persada, as well as state firm PT Pertamina, had submitted bids to swap concessions for the other 50% of Block A owned by ConocoPhillips.
Block A in Aceh is estimated to contain as much as 500 bcf of natural gas reserves. Its development is seen as crucial to securing supply for the province's Pupuk Iskandar Muda fertilizer plants, closed since early September due to the lack of natural gas.
Contact Eric Watkins at [email protected].
