Pertamina May Give Partial Interest in Natuna to Petronas

Pertamina said it was ready to give up a 13% stake in Natuna D-Alpha natural gas field to Petronas. Currently Exxon Mobil has a 76% stake in the D-Alpha natural gas block in the South China Sea, while Pertamina has 24%.

"I think Pertamina is ready to give up (part of) its share to Petronas in return if they buy the natural gas from D-Alpha gas field," Pertamina's upstream director Iin Arifin Takhyan said in a statement. "We have signed a memorandum of understanding with Petronas early this week to allow them to access the data and other information from the D-Alpha block," he said. "Petronas said they were keen to buy one billion cubic feet per day from Natuna D-Alpha. They wanted to participate in upstream there. We are ready to respond that," Takhyan said.

The field contains an estimated 210 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas, of which 45 tcf are thought to be recoverable commercially.