Indonesia to explore for Iraqi oil

Indonesia’s state-owned Pertamina oil company will restart an oil and gas exploration programme in Iraq interrupted earlier this year by the US-led attack, said a statement today.

“We are very pleased to finally begin exploration in Iraq and to open an office in Baghdad,” Pertamina’s president Baihaki Hakim said.

Pertamina will invest around €22.7m in the first three years in the Western Desert block. It has an option to extend its exploration activities by another two years with a further €14.2m.