Petronas Acquires Interest in Munir Block in Iran
In its statement faxed to IRNA here, Petronas said under the newly-approved farm-in transaction, Petronas Carigali Overseas now owns a 30 percent stake in the block, while Edison International and Lundin Munir have 40 percent and 30 percent stakes, respectively.
Edison International, which is the operator of the block, previously controlled 60 percent, with the remaining 40 percent equity owned by Lundin Munir.
Edison International is the exploration and production arm of Edison Gas, Italy's oldest energy company, while Lundin Munir is wholly-owned by Lundin Petroleum AB, a Swedish independent oil and gas exploration and production company.
The Munir Block is located in the Zagros Fold Belt of Iran, one of the most oil prolific sedimentary basins in the world.
Operations in the block are currently on-going with the acquisition of 2D seismic data, while exploratory drilling activities are expected to begin toward the second half of 2003.
Apart from the Munir Block, Petronas has a 40 percent interest in the Sirri A and E oil fields offshore Iran.
The fields, developed with partner TotalFinaElf, started production in October 1998 and February 1999, respectively and are now producing close to 100,000 barrels of oil per day.
Together with TotalFinaElf and Gazprom of Russia, Petronas is involved in the development of Iran's South Pars 2 and 3 gas fields.
The project was brought on stream earlier this year, making it the first gas project by Petronas and its partners to have come on stream in Iran.
TotalFinaElf, the operator, has a 40 percent interest in the project, while Petronas and Gazprom each has a 30 percent stake.
Meanwhile, Petronas has reported net earnings of RM8.27 billion (U.S.$2.17 billion) for the half-year ended September 30 2002, with revenue from international operations continuing to surpass that from domestic activities.
International revenue constituted 30.5 percent or RM11.37 billion (U.S.$2.99 billion) of its total turnover of RM35.34 billion (U.S.$9.3 billion), figures from its website disclosed.
The bulk of its revenue for the period came from exports, at 43.5 percent or RM16.25 billion (U.S.$4.27 billion), while domestic income was 26 percent of total revenue at RM9.73 billion (U.S.$2.56 billion).
Net earnings for the first half of the current financial year was 56.7 percent of the full-year results ended March 31, 2002 of RM14.57 billion (U.S.$3.8 billion).
In terms of sources of revenue, refining and marketing led at 40.1 percent, followed by exploration and production at 24.7 percent and gas business at 20 percent of total revenue.
Petronas has also boosted the nation's oil and gas reserves to 18.82 billion barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) as at January 1, 2002, compared with 18.25 billion barrels in the previous corresponding period.
The reserves, however, did not include those from the Malaysia-Thailand Joint Development Area, in which Petronas has an interest.
Much of the increase in the oil and gas reserves came through international acquisitions.
International equity interest boosted the nation's reserves to 3.71 billion BOE as at January 1, 2002 as opposed to 3.25 billion BOE the previous corresponding period.
The website showed Petronas' loans for the half-year totaled RM49.90 billion (U.S.$13.13 billion), of which 58.2 percent is due in less than five years and 24.3 percent between five and 10 years.
Over 80 percent of its debts is in U.S. dollars.
For the full-year ended March 31, 2002, total loans was RM40.37 billion (U.S.$10.6 billion) with 75 percent maturing in less than five years.