Indonesia awards 5 oil/gas blocks for exploration

JAKARTA, Sept 11 - Indonesia has awarded five oil and gas blocks to several companies, including Canadian oil firm Talisman Energy Inc , a senior mines and energy ministry official said on Friday. The move is part of efforts to boost oil and gas reserves and to lift dwindling production in future. The total investment committed for the projects in the first three years is $91.5 million.

"The companies will drill three exploration wells. We believe those areas have hydrocarbon potential," Evita Legowo, director general oil and gas at the ministry, told reporters.
Indonesia awarded exploration rights of Andaman III block offshore of North Sumatra to Talisman.

It also awarded four exploration blocks to a consortium of Canadian Niko Resources and Black Gold Energy. The blocks are: West Glagah Kambuna, offshore North Sumatra; Halmahera Kofiau, offshore South Halmahera; East Bula, offshore of Seram; and West Papua IV, offshore of Papua.

Indonesia has turned into a net importer of crude oil in recent years as production has slumped after a failure to tap new fields fast enough.

The country has been offering new exploration rights and financial incentives for oil fields in a bid to stem a steady decline in production.