Page 7 - AsianOil Week 45

AsianOil SOUTHEAST ASIA AsianOil

Indonesia pursues foreign

upstream investment

FINANCE & THE Indonesian government is pursu-
INVESTMENT ing foreign investment in the country’s
upstream by touting a new exploration bid
round slated for 2021.
The Southeast Asian producer intends to auc-
tion off 68 unexplored offshore blocks in 2021,
the Tradearabia media outlet quoted Indone-
sian Energy Minister Arifin Tasrif as saying at
the ADIPEC 2020 Virtual Strategic Conference.
“Indonesia is open for business from
upstream exploration to processing and training
in downstream,” he said.
Tasrif said the auction was part of a suite of
initiatives aimed at improving investor confi-
dence in the country’s oil and gas industry. He
said these included the introduction of produc-
tion-sharing contract (PSC) flexibility earlier
this year, fiscal and non-fiscal benefits and the
simplification of the licensing processes.
The official acknowledged that Indonesia’s
hydrocarbon reserves – which amount to 3.77bn
barrels of oil and 77 trillion cubic feet (2.18 tril- to be too enthusiastic, if the auctions are carried
lion cubic metres) of gas – were “not significant out this year,” Tasrif told lawmakers at the time.
compared to world reserves”, but added that the In the downstream, Tasrif told the virtual
government’s efforts to introduce incentives conference this week that Indonesia was accel-
should encourage investors. erating work on masterplans for six refineries.
Jakarta is looking to bolster its oil and gas He said: “This will increase crude oil process-
production, which missed the government’s ing capacity from 1mn barrels per day to 1.9mn
third-quarter by 0.4% at 1.69mn barrels of oil bpd.”
equivalent per day (boepd). However, the coun- The government also wants gas to account for
try moved in early September to postpone auc- 24% of the national energy mix by 2050 and is
tions for 12 exploration blocks until 2021, owing expanding its gas pipeline infrastructure to meet
to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. rising residential and power generation demand.
“As the COVID-19 outbreak has hit the coun- Moreover, the network will also be expanded to
try, the response of the KKKS is predicted not supply remote islands in the country’s east.™

QP pens LNG deal with Singapore’s Pavilion

PROJECTS & QATAR Petroleum (QP) has set up an LNG proposition and its cornerstone role in the
COMPANIES trading unit, while also striking a long-term deal energy transition,” company CEO and Qatari
to supply the super-cooled gas to Singapore. Energy Minister Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi said in
Doha-based QP Trading will aim to build up a statement.
a globally diversified portfolio of third-party and Qatar, already the world’s biggest LNG
equity LNG, QP said in a statement on Novem- exporter, is embarking on a major expansion
ber 9. It will manage price risk exposure through project at the offshore North Field. The first
physical and derivatives trading. phase, North Field East (NFE), will raise out-
“These new capabilities, combined with a put from the current 77mn tonnes per year to
customer and market-centric approach, will 110mn tpy by 2025, while the second, known
enable QP Trading to respond with greater agil- as North Field South (NFS), will increase it to
ity to the evolving needs of its customers, and to 126mn tpy by the late 2020s.
maximise the value of its portfolio,” QP said. QP is on a drive to find customers to take this
QP Trading’s launch reaffirms QP’s “belief extra gas. QP Trading has signed a long-term
in LNG’s economic and environmental value sales and purchase agreement with Singapore’s

Week 45 12•November•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P7