ChevronTexaco pays RI $4.3b

ChevronTexaco pays RI $4.3b

JAKARTA: ChevronTexaco Corp., the second-largest U.S. oil company, said it gave Indonesia's government US$4.3 billion last year for its share of oil revenue from fields in central Sumatra.

That was 30 percent higher than the $3.3 billion paid in 2003 because of an increase in oil prices, said Yudiana Ardiwinata, president director of ChevronTexaco's local unit, PT Caltex Pacific Indonesia.

"The increase in oil prices last year has helped offset the decline in our output," Yudiana told a hearing at the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

Caltex's oil production declined by about 5 percent last year to 507,000 barrels a day, Yudiana said. The company expects production to decline at a slower rate this year.

Caltex Pacific, the country's biggest oil producer, operates under a contract that gives Indonesia's government a 90 percent share of its production. The company's output has fallen because it has not explored in new areas to replace its older fields.

The company has pumped 10.5 billion barrels of crude oil out of the 27.4 billion barrels it has in reserves in the central Sumatra fields. It produces the Minas and Duri grades. -- Bloomberg