Aabar Petroleum Investments Company PJSC (Aabar) today announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, PEARL Energy Limited (PEARL), has been awarded two oil production sharing contracts (PSCs) in the Karana and Sibaru areas, offshore Indonesia, through PEARL's two subsidiary companies.
PEARL’s wholly owned subsidiary, PearlOil (K) Limited, will hold 100 percent interest and operate the Karana PSC, which covers an area of approximately 5,390 sq. km. Karana is located offshore in the Makassar Straits between the main islands of Kalimantan and Sulawesi.
“We are delighted to have the opportunity to operate Karana PSC, which lies to the north and east of PEARL’s existing Sebuku block. This enhances PEARL’s exploration position within the Makassar Straits”, said Chris Gibson-Robinson, PEARL’s Chief Operating Officer.
In the Sibaru concession area, PEARLOIL (Sandstone) Ltd, a wholly owned PEARL subsidiary will hold 40 percent interest and Mitra Energy, the operator, will hold the remaining 60 percent. Sibaru is located in the offshore extension of the greater East Java Basin and covers an area of 3,999 sq. km.
Gibson-Robinson said: “We welcome the opportunity to work together with a new partner in Mitra and to continue to strengthen our exploration portfolio in Indonesia, where we already hold significant acreage”.
He pointed out that Indonesia was one of PEARL’s core operational areas and said that the award of these concessions strengthened PEARL’s portfolio and exploration potential.
“Previous work in the Sibaru area has demonstrated the presence of hydrocarbons, and this block builds on our position offshore East Java in a region where demand for oil and gas continues to grow at a rapid pace”, he added.
Background:
Aabar
The acquisition of existing companies with a proven track record in the oil and gas sector is at the center of Aabar's growth strategy. Aabar will focus on Exploration & Production (E&P) activities and believes that the expected opening up of the petroleum E&P sector in the Gulf offers attractive growth prospects for a focused company that is well positioned to leverage its industry expertise and in-depth understanding of the oil and
gas sector in the region. Aabar compeletd its acquistion of Singapore-based Pearl Energy in August 2006, marking its entry into exploration and production (E&P).
PEARL
PEARL, a Singapore-based oil and gas company engaged in exploration, development and production of oil and gas resources, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Abu Dhabi-based Aabar Petroleum Investments Company PJSC, which is listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Market. Aabar acquired PEARL in 2006.
Since the PEARL’s first acquisition in 2002, it has built up a portfolio of exploration, development and production assets in 12 contract areas covering approximately 69,465 sq. km of gross acreage in Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines. PEARL also has been conditionally awarded, as operator, the 4,148 sq. km Block 06/94 offshore of Vietnam, subject to the signing of the final Production Sharing Contract.
Four of the contract areas contain fields producing oil and provide a source of cash flow for the Group as it explores and develops its prospective assets.
