Jakarta: The Indonesian unit of Chevron Corporation, the second-largest US energy company, is seeking to extend the drilling rights at its Siak oil block that expire in 2013, the regulator said.
BPMigas received an initial letter in September from Chevron, indicating the company's intention to extend the contract for the oil block on Sumatra island, said Elan Biantoro, a spokesman at BPMigas. Chevron declined to make any immediate comment when contacted by e-mail.
"They have until November to provide a formal proposal to the government and BPMigas," Biantoro said in a telephone interview yesterday.
An extension will help Chevron, Indonesia's biggest producer, maintain output from its Sumatra operations that pumped as much as 384,000 barrels a day of oil, Biantoro said.
Strategic operation
"Production at Siak block is small, only about 3,000 barrels a day, but it's strategic for Chevron's overall operation in Sumatra," Biantoro said.
"If something happens in the Siak block's infrastructure, such as pipeline problems, that will affect output in the Duri and Minas fields in Rokan."
San Ramon, California-based Chevron holds a 100 percent stake in the Rokan and Siak blocks in southern Sumatra, according to a statement on its website.
The company, which also has interests in areas in Borneo, Java and Papua islands, produced an average 485,000 barrels of oil a day in 2009, accounting for about half of Indonesia's output.