Santos Increases Indonesian Exploration
MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Australian oil and gas producer Santos Ltd (STO.AX) said on Thursday it has acquired a 45 percent interest in an exploration permit offshore East Java from international oil major BP Plc (BP.L). The company has farmed-in to BP's Bawean 1 production sharing contract (PSC), which means Santos does not pay upfront for the interest but instead agrees to share exploration costs. The farm-in more than doubles Santos' exploration acreage in Indonesia and further diversifies its interests away from the ageing Cooper/Eromanga Basins in central Australia, which the company operates with a 60 percent interest. "The addition...is another significant step in building our Indonesian business and, importantly, adds to the "high-impact" end of our exploration portfolio," Santos' Manager Director John Ellice-Flint said in a statement. BP holds the remaining 55 percent interest and operatorship of the permit, which it was awarded in November 2001. Santos said the terms of the farm-in deal were confidential. BP and Santos plan to drill two wells in the second-quarter of 2003 with the first well, Titan-1, scheduled for April. "This has the potential to significantly increase our gas resources in an area which is short of gas. Any discoveries we make we would aim to fast-track as quickly as we can," Santos General Manager Business Development Graeme Bethune told Reuters. Santos already operates the Oyong gas field and Maleo gas field, both offshore East Java, and the Bentu gas project onshore Sumatra. Santos has warned of a likely drop-off in its overall production during the next two-years due the natural decline of some of its fields. Santos shares were up 1.6 percent A$5.74 in late afternoon trade. ($1=A$1.67). � Reuters Limited 2003. --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Visit IAGI Website: http://iagi.or.id IAGI-net Archive 1: http://www.mail-archive.com/iagi-net%40iagi.or.id/ IAGI-net Archive 2: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/iagi Komisi Sedimentologi (FOSI) : F. Hasan Sidi([EMAIL PROTECTED])-http://fosi.iagi.or.id Komisi SDM/Pendidikan : Edy Sunardi([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Komisi Karst : Hanang Samodra([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Komisi Sertifikasi : M. Suryowibowo([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Komisi OTODA : Ridwan Djamaluddin([EMAIL PROTECTED] atau [EMAIL PROTECTED]), Arif Zardi Dahlius([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Komisi Database Geologi : Aria A. Mulhadiono([EMAIL PROTECTED]) ---------------------------------------------------------------------
