Chevron Corp will decide whether to move to the final design of the deepwater Kutai Basin natural gas project off Indonesia's East Kalimantan province by year-end
The Gehem and Gendalo natural gas projects in the Makassar Strait would be the deepest offshore gas fields in Indonesia.
Chevron, Indonesia's biggest oil producer, had said it planned to invest about $6 billion to develop gas fields off the island of Borneo, including the Gehem and Gendalo projects, which would help Indonesia crank up its flagging gas output.
Steve Green, managing director of the IndoAsia unit of Chevron told reporters that it could take 12-14 months to look at bids for the work before making a final investment decision, probably in 2011.
Oil companies throughout the world have been re-evaluating energy developments given a collapse in oil prices, which has made some projects uneconomic.
Deepwater projects are particularly expensive to develop.
But Chevron said last month it was reviewing its business plans in Indonesia but was committed to Kutai, in Borneo's East Kalimantan.
Author:
Ksenia Kochneva
