"Cold Feet" after the 2010 Gulf Disaster: BP drops two Indonesia offshore blocks citing risk concerns

"Cold Feet" after the 2010 Gulf Disaster: BP drops two Indonesia offshore blocks citing risk concerns

 February 1, 2015

 

BP said Friday it will relinquish two exploration blocks in offshore Indonesia after the sites were determined to be high risk investments.

The company said data analysis suggests the West Aru I and West Aru II production sharing contracts, located in Indonesia’s Arafura Sea, are technically “very high risk” and “commercially very challenging.”

“Following the result of the 3D seismic evaluation, earlier this quarter we have made the decision to relinquish both West Aru I and West Aru II blocks,” BP Indonesia head of country Dharmawan Samsu told Reuters.

The company was awarded 100 percent stakes in West Aru I and West Aru II in November 2011.

The licenses are located 310 miles southwest of the BP operated North Arafura production sharing contract in Indonesia’s Maluku province.

The West Aru I PSC covers 3,127 square miles and the West Aru II PSC covers 3,204 square miles.

The two blocks have water depths ranging between 656 feet and 8,202 feet.