INDONESIA - The Main Oil/Gas Fields & Operators.

Crude oil in this archipelago had been produced since 1893, when the islands were ruled by the Dutch and the oil helped turn Shell into a leading conglomerate this century.

An independent republic of Indonesia was first proclaimed in 1945 and the war for independence from Dutch rule ended in 1949, when the Indonesians finally took control of their resources. The following are brief profiles of the main oil and gas fields producing in Indonesia and their operators.

Pertamina, the state concern established after the war, now accounts for less than 5% of the country's oil production. It owns all state assets related to the petroleum industry, although it is being reshaped and demonopolised with some of the assets to be privatised. The company operates many small and medium fields in various regions. They include all the fields that were discovered and operated by the Dutch before independence and those fields which Pertamina has discovered since the 1960s. It has offered many of its marginal oilfields to foreign and some local companies for EOR and further development under Technical Assistance Contracts (TACs).

The state company has discovered a number of gas fields in recent years and has offered some of them under both production sharing contracts (PSCs) and TACs. Pertamina's exploration unit has been active in various parts of Western Indonesia and has made a number of discoveries. Its proven oil and gas reserves are estimated independently at about 650m barrels of oil equivalent.

The main oil producing regions are: Riau province, mostly in Central Sumatra; the Java Sea; East Kalimantan; and Natuna. The main gas producing areas are East Kalimantan and Arun (North Sumatra). In the next decade, the main gas producing regions would be led by Natuna and Irian Jaya.

The largest island in Indonesia, Sumatra, has about 70% of the country's proven and probable oil reserves and accounts for more than half of its oil production. It has three main petroleum provinces. Central Sumatra is the biggest oil province in the country and is the location of one of the most remarkable oil production systems in the world, including Indonesia's two giants Minas and Duri oilfields. The area has a number of gas fields. North Sumatra is mainly a gas province. South Sumatra is an oil province but the fields are small and the area is also rich in gas.

Pertamina is to offer about 40 marginal oilfields in TACs - perhaps some in PSAs if the foreign partners offer attractive development formulae - for development mainly based on advanced EOR systems. Pertamina says they have the potential to produce about 320,000 b/d. They will be offered within the 2001/02 period, so they will be fully developed before 2005.

Of the foreign investors in Indonesia's upstream, Inpex of Japan is the biggest with a broad portfolio of assets worth more than US$3.9 bn and oil and gas reserves of over 2.2 bn barrels of oil equivalent. ExxonMobil comes next, with assets worth over $3.4 bn and about 1.2 bn barrels oe of oil and gas reserves. TotalFinaElf is third, with assets exceeding $3.3 bn and almost 2 bn barrels oe in reserves. The other major investors are Caltex ($2.5 bn with 2.7 bn barrels oe), BP ($1.2 bn with over 700m barrels oe), Unocal ($900-950m with 600m barrels oe), and Lasmo ($780m with 450m barrels oe). Lasmo in early 2001 was taken over by ENI.

Migas, the General Directorate for Oil and Gas at the Ministry of Mines and Energy, is the entity in charge of the E&P business in Indonesia. It has taken over this role from Pertamina at the beginning of 2001. Pertamina, while helping Migas take over this role, is preparing itself to function as a purely commercial company and will compete with the other operators in bidding for E&P blocks. Pertamina will also branch overseas.

Pertamina is seeking to acquire a part of Repsol-YPF's assets in Indonesia operated by Maxus, the country's largest offshore oil producer with an output of 122,000 b/d. The Spanish group's assets are valued at $800 and negotiations with Pertamina and other interested companies having started in 2000, when Repsol-YPF offered them for sale. Pertamina is said to be negotiating an acquisition worth $400m and looking to raise the money internationally. Other companies negotiating with Repsol-YPF include Korea National Oil Corp., Mitsui E&P, state-owned PTTEP of Thailand and Medco.

The assets feature Maxus' Widuri system, in South-East Sumatra's offshore, where two major oilfields have been producing since late 1990 together with smaller structures. Intan and Widuri were found by Maxus in the 1980s. With Widuri brought on stream in late 1990, their combined capacity could be expanded to more than 250,000 b/d. Widuri alone produces about 70,000 b/d. Widuri oil is waxy but with low sulphur suitable for direct burning by power plants in Japan and other markets. Maxus' other field, Cinta and satellite structure together produce about 37,000 b/d. A processing complex takes the output from more than 60 wells on seven remote-production platforms. Then the crude stream is pumped for storage in a permanently moored tanker, Maxus Widuri. This block's recoverable oil reserves have been estimated at 235m barrels.

Maxus produces another 20,000 b/d from its North-West Java offshore block. Maxus, part of YPF of Argentina acquired by Repsol, has seven PSAs in Indonesia. Four of them involve the Widuri and North-West Java system and the other three PSA areas are yet to begin production. In 1991-95, Maxus drilled 39 exploration wells in Indonesia and had nine discoveries.

In its efforts to operate overseas, Pertamina has been negotiating with the oil ministry in Iraq for a combination of a field development and a new E&P block. In February 2001, Pertamina was among 30 companies in Singapore discussing 25 new oil and gas blocks on offer in India with the Indian petroleum ministry. In offering the 25 blocks, the latter staged roadshows in Singapore, Tokyo, London and Houston.