Indonesia may not meet 2004 oil production target

Indonesia may not meet 2004 oil production target

Indonesia, Southeast Asia's biggest oil producer, may miss its production target this year because of falling output from aging fields, the country's regulator said.

Output of crude oil and condensate, a light oil produced in association with natural gas, may average 1.05 million barrels a day, below the 1.07 million barrel target, Trijana Kartoatmodjo, deputy of operations at BPMigas, said in Jakarta.

Oil prices have surged 76 percent this year on concern over supply shortfalls. Disruptions in the Middle East, Africa and the U.S. Gulf, together with heightened risk to supplies from Russia, Venezuela and Norway have all fueled oil's rise.

Indonesia's crude oil output may average 980,000 barrels a day, Trijana said. That may rise to more than 1 million barrels a day next year as ConocoPhillips's Belanak field and the Sukowati field operated by PetroChina Co. and state oil company PT Pertamina boost output, Trijana said.

The government signed 16 new oil and gas production contracts last year in a bid to revive output from the country. Indonesia's crude oil production has fallen by more than 6 percent a year for the past five years, BPMigas says.

BPMigas also expects a stable output from Indonesia's biggest oil producer PT Caltex Pacific Indonesia as the company uses new technology to stem declining output from its aging Duri and Minas fields, Trijana said. -- Bloomberg