Pertamina Gandeng Petronas Develops Block Ambalat

JAKARTA - Pertamina will cooperate with an oil and gas company from Malaysia, Petroliam Nasional Berhad, Petronas, to manage oil and gas treasure in Blok Ambalat.

Director General of Oil and Gas of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Tutuka Ariadji revealed that these two companies will conduct a desk study to develop the existing oil and gas potential.

Tutuka said that this collaboration is possible to start in the near future. "It can be within this year. Hurry up. In a few months, maybe we can start," said Tutuka, quoted on Tuesday, July 4.

He explained that the desk study conducted between the two oil and gas companies would not use seismic data but data owned by each company.

Tutuka also emphasized that this jka desk study is still the first step and is not a guarantee that later Petronas will join Pertamina in managing the Ambalat Block.

"Just study with the existing data. It's not necessarily the soap operas that manage it, it's just a study desk. It's only the beginning. If it's good then we'll talk about it," said Tutuka. On the same occasion Tutuka also denied that this desk study is a step in the middle of reducing tensions due to disputes between the two countries that are fighting over the border boundaries of the Blok in the Sulawesi Sea or Makassar Strait.

"No. Just study together, both of them have data," said Tutuka.

Tutuka said that his party's urgency to conduct a desk study aims to immediately explore the resources contained in the Ambalat Block which will take at least 5 to 10 years. In that period, there will be more and more massive sources of clean energy used in Indonesia, so the Government needs to accelerate the use of fossil energy to be utilized.

"So we concentrate on what we have right now, our fossil energy is explored at the right speed so that it can be used. If it is not used, it can be left quickly," concluded Tutuka.