Indonesia back in the oil & gas race

LIKE the kid who does not how to give up after losing a race, Indonesia is back at the oil and gas production race. In a recently published news report on March 4, the government’s Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Special Task Force (SKK Migas) said that two developments last year ‘added optimism’ to Indonesia’s goal of becoming a leading gas producer. He was referring to the resumption of a stalled gas project at the offshore Masela Block and the discovery of a giant gas reserve at the Sakakemang Block in South Sumatra. But as reality always is in the massive archipelago of 17,000 islands, major oil, and gas players have said plans are still in preliminary stages about how the country will achieve its target of becoming a net exporter of oil and gas after Jakarta left OPEC several years ago. However, Repsol could not contain its glee when announcing its latest strategic find. The company said that its partners, Malaysian-owned Petronas and MOECO had made the largest gas find in Indonesia in 18 years, ranking the field as the 10th largest find globally over the last 12 months.  Indonesia, the company said, is the focus of Repsol’s exploration investments in Southeast...