http://thejakartaglobe.com/business/shell-ptt-fight-for-pertamina-contract/342663
Reva Sasistiya & Yesser Rosendar Shell, PTT Fight For Pertamina Contract Energy giant Royal Dutch Shell and Thai oil producer PTT are vying to supply state oil producer PT Pertamina with technology for enhanced oil-recovery projects to recover remaining reserves from the state firm's aging fields. "A Pertamina pilot project for enhanced oil recovery will start in 2010," Salis Aprilian, president director of Pertamina's exploration and production subsidiary, Pertamina EP, said on Thursday, without specifying an exact date. A pilot project using chemicals would take place in the aging onshore fields in Limau, South Sumatra, and Tanjung, Kalimantan, Salis said. Shell and PTT were being considered as suppliers of technology for enhanced oil recovery, he said. Shell executive vice president Tan Chong Meng said on Tuesday the Anglo-Dutch company was negotiating with Pertamina to provide the technology for Pertamina's mature fields. Tan was speaking on the sidelines of the Singapore Energy Week forum. "As Pertamina's oil output from its mature fields has been declining, Shell's technology can help the company recover the remaining resources," he said. Despite falling output from mature fields, which account for 80 percent of Pertamina's oil resources, the company hopes to increase overall output next year to 193,900 barrels per day from 174,800 barrels currently, as new fields come on stream. Shell is a pioneer in enhanced oil recovery, a technique for increasing crude oil production in mature fields, using steam, gases or chemicals to extract remaining reserves, mostly oil found in porous rock. The method can extract 30 percent to 60 percent more oil from reservoirs, compared with 20 percent to 40 percent using conventional methods. Sergio Kapusta, Shell's chief materials scientist, said on Tuesday that enhanced recovery cost about 15 percent more than conventional drilling. This translated into an additional $5 to $10 for a barrel of crude, he said. Raden Priyono, head of upstream oil and gas regulator BPMigas, said Pertamina had already deployed the technology in the form of water flooding in the Tanjung field this year. Related articles Oil Slump May Drop Pertamina Profit by 40% 8:49 PM 04/08/2009 Pertamina Gets $700m Loan To Increase Oil & Gas Output 8:40 PM 31/07/2009 I'm Not Quitting, Karen Says 9:31 PM 10/06/2009 Company's Profit Dives on Falling Crude Prices 9:28 PM 10/06/2009 Pertamina Ready to Take Over Cepu Block 9:04 PM 28/08/2009 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
