Eric Watkins
Senior Correspondent
LOS ANGELES, Nov. 1 -- The Indonesian government is drafting incentives aimed at attracting exploration to the country's eastern regions, according to a senior official.
Kardaya Warnika, chairman of Indonesia's upstream oil and gas agency BP Migas, said the agency would propose to the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources that the exploration commitment be limited to geological studies and seismic surveys.
He did not specify which regions would be targeted for more exploration.
He said drilling would be an option rather than a commitment. And the 6 year commitment period could be halved.
"This proposal was based on inputs from investors and hopefully can make the frontier area more attractive," he said.
Kardaya said BP Migas is studying incentive options for mature fields.
"We cannot generalize incentives for brown fields as the condition in one area differs from the others," he said.
State oil and gas firm PT Pertamina has identified 41 mature fields and begun offering them to investors.
Pertamina Pres. Widya Purnama said four multinational investors, including China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., had shown interest joining partnerships to brown fields.
"We are ready to open the data room. They can choose the areas they want to assist in developing," said Widya, who did not name the interested companies.
Contact Eric Watkins at [email protected]
