BP to sell gas, oil field in Indonesia’s West Java

28-Feb-2009 Intellasia | Reuters | 8:01 AM

BP has put up for sale a 46% stake in an offshore oil and gas field in Indonesia’s West Java, the oil major said in a statement, ahead of the launch of its Tangguh LNG project in Papua.

The Offshore North West Java block produces 24,000 barrels of oil per day and around 220 billion British thermal unit of gas a day, according to an industry source.

“BP plans to complete the divestment by the end of 2009. ONWJ PSC has been an important part of our portfolio for many years. However, it does not fit with the company’s long-term strategy,” BP said in a statement emailed to Reuters on Thursday.

The firm declined to give a selling price, saying the information was commercially confidential.

But it said the sale would not affect BP’s other interests in Indonesia, which include the US$5 billion Tangguh liquefied natural gas project in Papua.

Other major shareholders in ONWJ include China’s CNOOC with 36.72% and Japan’s Inpex with 7.25%, BP said.

The Tangguh project is scheduled to see first commercial shipments of LNG in the second quarter of 2009, the company said.