Pertamina to Sign Energy Cooperation Deal with Iran

Tehran and Jakarta are expected to sign an agreement under which Indonesian state owned firm Pertamina will help develop oil and gas fields in Iran.

"There are two to four blocks that will be evaluated based on the initial study; of the four, there are two blocks that will be our priority," Pertamina's upstream director Syamsu Alam said on Saturday, Iran’s Fars News Agency reported.  

This agreement will be Pertamina’s second energy deal with Iran this year. In May, Pertamina agreed to buy 80,000 metric tonne of LPG from Iran. Iran will export two LPG cargoes to Indonesia this year. The deal paves way for Iran to hike exports to 500,000 metric tonne next year.

The Indonesia firm is currently operating three oil and gas producing blocks in Iraq, Algeria and Malaysia and plans a capital expenditure of $2 billion on upstream mergers and acquisitions this year, Fars News added.

In mid-June, Indonesian Parliament Speaker Zulkifli Hassan in a meeting with Iranian Ambassador to Jakarta Valiollah Mohammadi Nasrabadi called for the expansion of mutual cooperation.

"Jakarta and Tehran should work for broadening of their bilateral ties," Hassan said.