Offshore staff

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Indonesia's state-owned PT Pertamina has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Korea National Oil Corp. and South Korea's privately owned SK Corp. to carry out oil and gas exploration jointly in Indonesia and abroad.

According to KNOC exploration manager Sukyeon Hwang, the three companies plan to collaborate on upstream projects both in Indonesian and internationally.

The MoU, signed on May 1, 2007, along with two other MoUs for power projects, were part of the first approach taken by a 190-strong Korean energy delegation visiting Indonesia April 30 to May 1 to seek new energy and petroleum supply security projects.

The Indonesian Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro estimates that the MoUs have drawn $1.5 billion in Korean investment in the Indonesian projects, which include a proposed LNG importing terminal (the third LNG train to be built at Tangguh on the eastern Indonesian province of Papua), and a study of a potential nuclear plant that has been on the drawing board of the Indonesian energy specialists for the past few decades.

5/2/2007