Five Firms Vie to Become Partners in Indonesia's Giant Natuna Project

摘要

Indonesian state Pertamina is expected to choose its partners for developing the giant Natuna D-Alpha gas block by the end of No- vember, after whittling down the shortlist to five companies from an original eight (IOD Jul.19,p7). Pertamina is remaining close-lipped, but sources close to the estimated $40 billion project say the five are Exxon Mobil, France's Total, Royal Dutch Shell, Malaysia's state Petronas and Norway's Statoil. In 2008, it had named eight potential partners, includ- ing Chevron, Italy's Eni and China National Petroleum Corp., although the Chinese withdrew earlier this year.