The Abu Dhabi-based oil and gas firm, Aabar Petroleum Investment Company, plans to invest 500 million U.S. dollars in the next three years on exploration and production work in Indonesia, local press said Wednesday.

The company would use the money mostly for the development of its gas block in Sebuku in the Makassar Strait, offshore East Kalimantan, the English daily The Jakarta Post reported.

"We submitted to BPMigas (the Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Agency) the plan of development for Sebuku at the end of August, and clearly we are hoping for approval," Aabar CEO David Woodward was quoted as saying by the report.

Of the 500 million dollars, 140 million would be spent next year on the development of a number of its blocks, including the Mengoepeh oil block in South Sumatra, he said.

Aabar, which operates in Indonesia through its wholly owned subsidiary Pearloil, has eight contract areas in South Sumatra, offshore East Java, offshore East Kalimantan and Papua, with four of them already at the production stage.

Woodward said the company was keen on expanding its exploration activities in Indonesia through open tender and direct-offer opportunities.

The company will consider participating in the government's next tender for the rights to 25 oil and gas blocks, he said.