Jakarta. Indonesia's Pertamina plans to invest around $1.5 billion in the Mahakam gas block in 2017, the chief executive of the state-owned energy company said on Tuesday (23/08).

Pertamina will officially take over operation of the Mahakam block, Indonesia's biggest source of natural gas, in 2018 from French oil major Total and Japan's Inpex.

"Pertamina needs to start investing next year so that there isn't a significant decline in production in 2018," Pertamina CEO Dwi Soetjipto told reporters.

He said finalization of the handover agreement and details of what role Total will play in the Mahakam block will be ironed out in the next two weeks.

Reuters