JP/13/Caltex

CPP oil output continues to decline: BP Migas

The Jakarta Post Jakarta

The oil output volume at the Coastal Plains Pekanbaru (CPP) block in Riau has declined since last year and has now reached a record low, said an official.

Head of the Oil and Gas Implementing Body (BP Migas) Rachmat Sudibyo said on Tuesday that the oil production level was now at 28,000 barrels per day, compared to 50,000 barrels a day last year.

"It (the declining trend) must be stopped," he was quoted by Antara as saying on Tuesday.

Speaking at an oil and gas forum, Rachmat said that the CPP block produced some 70,000 barrels of oil per day when it was still under the management of PT Caltex Pacific Indonesia (CPI).

The block was transferred in August last year to a joint venture between state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina and the province's company PT Bumi Siak Pusako (BSP) after CPI's contract expired.

Baihaki Hakim, president of Pertamina, previously said that the declining oil output of the block was caused by an internal revenue-sharing dispute within PT BSP, and had prevented Pertamina from further exploring new wells in the CPP block.

Rachmat said that BP Migas, in its capacity as the highest authority in the oil and gas upstream sector, would summon both sides and seek a solution to the case.

Oil is one of the country's major export revenues, and a decline in the oil output would further limit Indonesia's ability to finance its development programs.