Pertamina ready to takeover Caltex role in operating CPP

State oil and gas company Pertamina has expressed its readiness to take over the operation of Coastal Plain Pekanbaru (CPP) block in Riau next year, after the extended contract with PT Caltex Pacific Indonesia is over, Koran Tempo daily reported on Thursday.

Pertamina's downstream director Iin Arifin Takhyan said that Pertamina was prepared to operate the CPP block together with the Riau Province, or even when Caltex is also involved in the new management of CPP starting next year.

Iin even said that Pertamina had envisioned efforts to improve oil output from CPP block from the current level of 50,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil to 70,000 bpd, or even 80,000 bpd.

He explained that it would need a total of US$1.2 billion of new investment to prolong the life-cycle of the CPP block to 17 years more, by employing, among others, the so-called enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technology.

Iin explained that it is possible for Pertamina to cooperate with Caltex to employ the EOR technology for CPP.

Besides CPP, Iin revealed that Pertamina is also eyeing the contract of the Mountain Front Kuantan (MFK) oil block that would expire in year 2005. The oil block is currently producing 500,000 bpd of crude oil, the backbone of Caltex's operation in the country. (*)