[Kabar-indonesia] 13 oil/gas reports: Pertamina vows to secure stocks despite high oil prices

[JoyoNews at aol.com]

Note: also see the previously sent: 35-Year Low for RI 
Crude Oil Production: BP Migas [+Bakrie/Gas Pipeline]

13 reports: 

- Pertamina vows to secure stocks despite high oil prices
- Indonesia's Pertamina seeks 493 mln usd to develop 
  Pondok Tengah block
- Spiraling oil price to slightly hamper Indonesia's budget
- Indonesia plays down oil price impacts
- update: Indonesia 2005 oil/gas revenue 20.85 bln usd; 
  output 2.2 mmboe/day - BP Migas
- Indonesia cuts diesel tender intake for Aug
- Indonesia buys Aug gasoline at discount
- Asia Crude-Indonesia reoffers end - July BRC
- Asia Crude-Indonesia offers rare spot 
  Minas cargo
- Indonesia's Medco says US unit sets up
  new facility in Gulf of Mexico
- Dow Jones: Cnooc Has High Hopes 
  for Gas Find
- Sinopec Gains, But Analysts Stay Wary
- Petromindo Oil/Gas Headlines, Tuesday, 
  July 18, 2006

Pertamina vows to secure stocks despite high oil prices

JAKARTA, July 17 (Reuters) - Indonesian state oil company PT Pertamina
vowed to keep its oil product stocks at no less than 21 days' demand
despite high international oil prices, a senior company official said
on Monday. Hanung Budya, deputy director for trading and marketing at
the company, told reporters the company will guarantee the
availability of domestic oil products, regardless of oil prices.

Tensions in the Middle East have pushed oil prices to near $80-a-barrel 
levels.

"Whatever the oil price is, we well secure our stock, no less than 21
days. Currently, our stock stands at 23 days," Budya said.

Stock levels soared as high as 27 days at the start of the year after
oil demand slumped following Jakarta's decision to nearly double
subsidised retail prices last October.

As a result, Pertamina, the region's biggest importer of gasoline and
diesel, cut back sharply on imports to draw down stocks.

It is expected to import between 12-13 million barrels of oil products
in August, compared with 12.71 million in July and 12.36 million a
month before.

------------------------------------

Indonesia's Pertamina seeks 493 mln usd 
to develop Pondok Tengah block

JAKARTA, July 17 (XFN-ASIA) - State oil and gas firm PT Pertamina is
seeking finance of 493 mln usd to develop its Pondok Tengah block in
Bekasi, West Java, deputy finance director Evita Tagor said.

"We have started to develop the block but we need further funding. We
will try some options," she said over the weekend.

She said the financing could be in the form of a term loan or project
financing while another option is 'syariah' financing from the Middle
East investors, though this is less likely due to tax barriers.

Tagor said Pertamina is drilling 32 production wells and 13 injection
wells and is also constructing production facilities at the field.

She said the field can potentially produce 58.6 mln barrels of oil in
20 years and 16 mln standard cubic feet of gas per day for 14 years.

Apart from the Pondok Tengah development, Pertamina is also seeking
funding for its trans-Java gas pipeline project; a gas transit
terminal in Tuban, East Java, and to build a liquefied natural gas
(LNG) processing plant in Central Sulawesi in cooperation with private
firm PT Medco Energi Internasional.

-------------------------------------

Spiraling oil price to slightly hamper Indonesia's budget

JAKARTA, July 17 (Xinhua) -- Spiraling world oil price, which reached
over 80 U.S. dollars a barrel, was predicted to slightly hamper
Indonesia's budget, as the country had proposed an assumption of oil
price on the budget at 62 U.S. dollar a barrel, a minister said here
on Monday.

"(The high oil price) must have an effect (on the state budget), but
not too strong, until the end of this year," said Indonesian
Development Planning Minister Paskah Suzetta.

The minister said that the government would watch closely the trend of
the fluctuation, then determine the amount of the total subsidy for
oil.

Meanwhile, Indonesian Minister of Mines and Energy Purnomo Yusgiantoro
said that the government still had no plan to increase domestic oil
price because of the skyrocketing global oil price.

But, he said that the government planned to decline the amount of the
subsidy in the oil sector by shifting the usage of oil with other
alternative energy.

"If the consumption of the subsidied-fuel decrease, its subsidy will
also be down," he said.

Indonesia's government must subsidize about 55 trillion rupiah (5.5
billion U.S. dollars) under its current assumption of oil price in its
state budget.

Currently, the government is proposing to change the assumption of the
oil price in the budget to 62 U.S. dollars, when the global oil price
over 70 U.S. dollars a barrel.

---------------------------------------------------------

Indonesia plays down oil price impacts

JAKARTA, July 17 (Xinhua) -- An Indonesian senior official Monday
called on people to refrain from getting "too worried" about the
soaring global oil prices, saying the economic fundamentals are strong
enough to deal with the impacts.

"We must remain vigilant, but we don't need to expect worse things to
come. Our economy is strong," said Coordinating Minister for Economic
Affairs Boediono.

Indonesia is the only OPEC member in Southeast Asia, but national oil
production has declined to below 1 million barrels per day and the
country already becomes a net oil importer.

The Indonesian rupiah has suffered the biggest loss among other Asian
currencies and the composite index in the Jakarta Stock Exchange fell
for a third day in the last few days, when oil price touched the
all-times high.

--------------------------------------

Indonesia 2005 oil/gas revenue 20.85 bln usd; 
output 2.2 mmboe/day - BP Migas

JAKARTA, July 17 (XFN-ASIA) - The government generated revenue of
20.85 bln usd in 2005 from the upstream oil and gas sector, up from 9
bln usd in 2002, said Kardaya Warnika, head of the upstream oil and
gas regulatory body BP Migas.

No comparative figures were given for 2004.

He said average oil and gas production in 2005 reached 2.2 mln barrels
of oil equivalent per day (mmboe), with oil output falling 3 pct from
2004 while gas production fell 1.8 pct.

'Oil output mostly come from old wells,' he said.

He added that total investment into the oil and gad sector amounted to
6.2 bln usd, an increase of 15 pct year-on-year.

-------------------------------------

Indonesia cuts diesel tender intake for Aug

SINGAPORE, July 18 (Reuters) - Indonesia's Pertamina has bought
200,000 barrels of high-sulphur gas oil in its first diesel tender in
five months, way below the last tender intake amid abundant domestic
stocks, traders said on Tuesday.

The state oil firm awarded the cargo to its trading arm Petral at a
premium of 47 cents a barrel to Pertamina's price formula, slated for
arrival into Tanjong Uban on Aug. 19-21.

It last bought 600,000 barrels of similar grade gas oil via tender for March.

Despite resuming its diesel purchase via tender, Pertamina's import
appetite is expected to wane due to higher domestic refinery output,
traders said.

Pertamina said last week it would cut total imports of 0.5 percent
sulphur diesel for August delivery to 6-7 million barrels from nearly
8 million barrels for each month of June and July.

"They (Pertamina) bought a lot more for June and July partly because
of the need to replenish stocks. It was not as if there was a sudden
spurt in demand but they had been drawing down on supplies over the
past months," a trader in Singapore said.

Indonesian oil product stocks last stood at around 23 days worth of 
consumption.

Indonesia, OPEC's only net oil importer, has about 1 million bpd of
refining capacity, but is forced to import fuels such as gasoline,
diesel and jet-kerosene to make up for a structural shortfall and feed
a ravenous power sector.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Indonesia buys Aug gasoline at discount

SINGAPORE, July 18 (Reuters) - Indonesia has bought one cargo of
gasoline for August delivery at some discount from its trading arm
Petral, a trading source said on Tuesday.

State-owned Pertamina bought 200,000 barrels of 88-octane gasoline at
a discount of about 13 cents to Singapore spot quotes, on a
free-on-board (FOB) basis, for Aug. 16-18 delivery, the source said.

"A seller was aggressive in offering discounts. Some discount is still
OK to bear, if the gasoline is blended," the source said.

Pertamina bought one 88-octane gasoline cargo at a premium of around
$1.50 a barrel, on a cost-and-freight (C&F) basis, via a monthly
tender for July despite buying year-high volumes of 3.6 million
barrels for the month.

Indonesia imported 11.5 million barrels of oil products for July and
estimates it will import a slightly lower 10.5 million barrels in
August on higher domestic refinery output, state firm Pertamina said
last Friday.

Of the total August requirements, Indonesia may import 6-7 million
barrels of diesel and 2.8 million barrels of gasoline in August,
Pertamina's marketing director, Achmad Faisal, said.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Asia Crude-Indonesia reoffers end-July BRC

TOKYO/SINGAPORE, July 18 (Reuters) - Indonesia's oil and gas regulator
BPMIGAS has reissued a tender to sell around 200,000 barrels of
Bontang Return Condensate (BRC) for loading July 28-29, a trader said
on Tuesday.

The tender closes on Wednesday. The tender was first issued last week
and closed on Friday.

The reoffer this week signalled limited interest in the cargo, which
is for very prompt loading.

The initial spot tender was issued after production of BRC condensate
increased, a BPMIGAS source said last week.

BPMIGAS previously sold BRC for March to August loadings at a strong
39-cent premium over the grade's Indonesia Crude Price (ICP) to
European trader Galaxy, the source added.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Asia Crude-Indonesia offers rare spot Minas cargo

TOKYO/SINGAPORE, July 18 (Reuters) - Indonesia's oil and gas regulator
BPMIGAS has issued a rare spot tender to sell around 200,000 barrels
of medium-sweet Minas crude for loading in August, traders said on
Tuesday.

The tender closes on Wednesday.

Sources at BPMIGAS could not be reached for comment, but the tender
was likely to have been issued for reasons similar to last week, when
BPMIGAS offered 200,000 barrels of August-loading Duri amid curtailed
options for using the crude domestically.

Refinery outages and a shortage of vessels have prevented Pertamina
from lifting all its domestic crude volumes, a company source has
said.

--------------------------------------------------------

Indonesia's Medco says US unit sets up new facility in Gulf of Mexico

JAKARTA, July 17 (XFN-ASIA) - Oil and gas firm PT MedcoEnergi
Internasional said its wholly owned subsidiary, MedcoEnergi US LLC,
has successfully set up its first new platform and facility in the
Gulf of Mexico.

The new platform, located at East Cameron Block 318, approximately 105
miles south-southwest of Intracoastal City Louisiana, weighs over
1,800 metric tons and sits in 229 feet of water.

It said in a statement that the combination drilling and production
facility carries 6 drilling slots; process facilities rated for 50 mln
standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd); 1400 HP of gas compression and
quarters for 10 operators. These quarters will serve as a hub
headquarters to service other MedcoEnergi and third-party facilities
in the area.

The statement said MedcoEnergi US also anticipates improved run-time
efficiency and more effective cost control at its nearby EC 317A
facility as a result of this installation. It is also in the process
of erecting a platform drilling rig, the Nabors Super Sundowner XIX,
and anticipates beginning drilling operations in early August 2006.

MedcoEnergi US holds a 75 pct working interest and operates the East
Cameron 318 development project. When fully developed, production from
this project is expected to more than double MedcoEnergi US' current
net gas production to over 30 mmscfd.

'This measurable additional revenue-stream will make a noticeable
contribution to MedcoEnergi's continued operation and growth and
produces a tangible, positive impact to our increasing role as an
active mid-size energy company in the Gulf of Mexico,' said Medco CEO
Hilmi Panigoro.

MedcoEnergi US LLC specializes in mature field re-development
activities in the Gulf of Mexico and the coastal areas of Texas and
Louisiana.

--------------------------------

Dow Jones Newswires
Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Cnooc Has High Hopes for Gas Find

Chairman Says Field
In South China Sea
Is a 'Breakthrough'

By SHAI OSTER

BEIJING -- A major recent gas discovery deep under the South China Sea could 
reopen a frontier for oil and gas exploration that some multinational 
companies abandoned decades ago after shallower wells turned up dry, said the chairman 
of Cnooc Ltd., China's biggest offshore oil producer.

The discovery, announced in June by Cnooc's Canadian partner, Husky Energy 
Inc., is a "tremendous breakthrough for us," Cnooc Chairman Fu Chengyu said in 
an interview yesterday. The statement was the first time that Cnooc, the listed 
arm of China National Offshore Oil Corp., has made clear how important it 
thinks the field could be. Cnooc has the option to buy a 51% stake in the field.

Husky, controlled by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, said the field, 
China's first deep-water discovery, is located about 240 kilometers south of Hong 
Kong beneath 1,500 meters of water. Husky estimates it contains four trillion 
to six trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural-gas reserves. Cnooc has 5.8 
trillion cubic feet of booked natural-gas reserves.

"This will become the second growth era for Cnooc," Mr. Fu said. "This is one 
area that will make a big change to this company."

Mr. Fu said he expected oil prices to remain high in the short term because 
of geopolitical factors such as instability in the Middle East that weren't 
going to be resolved soon.

"From the demand and supply point of view, the price is a lot higher than it 
should be. But this is high for other reasons, such as geopolitical risks, 
which are causing most of this high oil price," he said. Hedge funds are also 
bidding up prices, Mr. Fu said.

"Iraq, Iran, the Middle East -- those will not go away in the short term. 
That gives people a lot of room for imagination. That's why you see oil prices 
still going up. If there's something else, they may go up again even higher," he 
said.

The discovery by Cnooc and its partner could revitalize exploration in the 
once-promising South China Sea. In the 1980s, China encouraged big oil companies 
to spend billions of dollars to drill in an area that many hoped would be the 
new Gulf of Mexico or North Sea, two other regions rich in hydrocarbons.

Interest in the region dropped after explorers drilled a succession of dry 
holes, and global oil prices started falling. Many companies gave up on the area.

But new technology allows searchers to reach much greater depths. And the 
soaring price of oil -- now within striking distance of $80 a barrel -- is making 
more challenging projects economical to develop. Cnooc doesn't have the 
in-house ability for the more difficult deepwater drilling but has partnered with 
foreigners in the quest to feed China's fast-growing appetite for energy.

"This is a tremendous, vast area that we never touched before. This 
discovery...will bring a new height for investment in exploration, not just for our 
company, but also including multinational companies," Mr. Fu said.

---------------------------------

Dow Jones Newswires
July 18, 2006

Sinopec Gains, But Analysts Stay Wary

By ARIES POON

HONG KONG -- China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. said it processed 5.3% more 
crude oil and sold 7% more refined products during the first half amid robust 
Chinese demand for fuel and other petrochemical products.

But analysts said the higher sales of refined products might not translate 
into an impressive first-half profit, with the refiner's bottom line squeezed by 
soaring crude costs and Beijing's cap on domestic selling prices.

The refiner, better known as Sinopec, said it processed 71.7 million metric 
tons of crude during the first six months of 2006, up from 68.1 million tons a 
year earlier. Domestic sales of oil products rose to 54.3 million tons from 
50.8 million tons, of which retail sales of gasoline rose about 20% to 35.3 
million tons, Sinopec said.

Gordon Kwan, an analyst at CLSA, said in an email, "We still expect Sinopec 
to be under near-term pressure until China implements the next hike in domestic 
refined product prices to offset the recent surge in global oil prices."

Sinopec didn't provide profit and revenue figures for the period.

A person familiar with the situation said earlier that Sinopec might face a 
refining loss in the second quarter if oil prices remain high, despite China's 
increases in oil-product prices during March and May.

For the second quarter, the data showed, Sinopec processed 36.5 million tons 
of crude, up 8.2% from 33.8 million tons in the same period last year. 
Sinopec's domestic sales of refined products rose 6.2% to 28.3 million tons in the 
quarter.

Global oil prices have been at highs amid geopolitical tensions. That has 
hurt China's refineries, as the government keeps domestic retail fuel prices 
lower than the international market. Some analysts said that even after the latest 
price rise, domestic prices of oil products are still about 10% to 12% below 
global levels.

Sinopec's refineries posted a first-quarter operating loss of 7.88 billion 
yuan ($985.2 million). David Hurd, an analyst at Deutsche Bank, wrote in a 
research report dated June 23 that he expects Sinopec's second-quarter refining 
loss to narrow to about six billion yuan.

------------------------------------

- Petromindo Oil/Gas Headlines, Tuesday, July 18, 2006

- Four international firms to provide funds 
  for pipeline project: Bakrie
- Total sees E. Kalimantan gas production 
  stable until 2010
- Release: Medco Energi: Successful installation 
  of the new platform in US operation
- Inpex delays Timor Sea appraisal drilling 
  on rig scarcity
- Pertamina set to lower CNG price
- Exxon, Pertamina to spend $ 76m on Cepu
- Apexindo secures $2.9m contract from 
  EMP Kangean
 
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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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