Indonesia says seeking to revive Iraq oil projects

Indonesia’s state oil firm Pertamina said on Thursday it was planning to revive oil projects it was involved in Iraq that were put on ice because of the security situation in the country.

Iraq and Pertamina signed an oil exploration agreement in block 3 in Iraq’s Western desert in 2002, but the U.S.-led invasion of the Middle Eastern country prevented Pertamina from starting exploration.
Pertamina said at the time it had also been eyeing the Tuba oil field in Iraq.

“We used to have government-to-government projects in Tuba and the Western desert oil fields. We expect the projects to be revived,” Pertamaina president Karen Agustiawan told reporters after a meeting with Energy Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro.

Pertamina is under government pressure to increase oil production and has been looking to expand its overseas projects.

The company plans to produce 169,750 barrels per day (bpd) of oil this year, up from 156,000 bpd of oil in 2008.

“We want Pertamina to have oil projects with Iraq because the reserves are huge there,” Evita Legowo, director of oil and gas at the energy ministry, said.

Despite its rich natural resources, Indonesia has turned into a net importer of crude oil in recent years as production slumped after a failure to tap new field fast enough.

Reuters