REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Indonesia will strengthen its commitment to developing the energy sector with Iran, including investment in an oil field in that country, deputy minister of energy Arcandra Tahar said here on Friday. "Commitments in the energy sector include Pertamina's plan to invest there as well as gas imports," he said after a coordination meeting to discuss the planned visit of the chief economic minister to Iran.

Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Darmin Nasution plans to visit Iran as a follow-up to the visit of President Joko Widodo to the country in December 2016.

Arcandra confirmed that the state-owned energy company, PT Pertamina, is ready to invest in two oil fields in Iran and will submit its proposal soon. "Pertamina will enter two fields and the proposal will soon be submitted to Iran," he informed.

Pertamina's director of upstream business, Syamsu Alam, stated that the National Iranian Oil Company's (NIOC) subsidiary, the National Iranian South Oil Company (NISOC) held talks about the planned investment in the Ab-Teymour and Mansouri oil fields. "On Feb 11, we held talks with the NIOC. On Sunday, we will talk again," he said.

Syamsu confirmed that the proposal would be submitted during the visit of Darmin Nasution there on February 25. Pertamina and NIOC had earlier signed a commitment to carry out an initial study of two giant oil fields in Iran---Ab Teymour and Mansouri---that have oil reserves of five billion barrels. The NIOC has offered the two oil fields to Pertamina.

The director of procurement of the state electricity company PLN, Supangkat Iwan Santoso, noted that Indonesia has also offered to invest in Iran's electricity sector, especially in the development of generators and capacity improvement of industrial equipment, to support domestic production. "The IPP (Independent Power Producer) investment includes thermal and renewable power generators and capacity building for industrial equipment to support domestic production.  The two are important in addition to maintenance service," he observed.

Supangkat reminded that a number of investors from Iran have already expressed an interest to be involved in the US$5 billion worth of electricity energy projects.

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