Maxus delays 20% oil output

Maxus delays 20% oil output

SINGAPORE (Dow Jones): To help meet Indonesia's pledge to cut
crude oil production by 100,000 barrels a day, Maxus Southeast
Sumatra Inc has delayed indefinitely a potential 20 percent
increase in its gross production to 180,000 barrels per day
(bpd), a Jakarta-based company official told Dow Jones Newswires
yesterday.

Drilling of existing fields and application of new technology
helped the company to raise oil production of its Widuri and
Cinta crudes in April to a combined 150,000 bpd, from its 1997
average of about 140,000 bpd, according to the official, who
asked not to be named.

The company will not utilize its full production capacity of
180,000 bpd to support the Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries' plan to cut output 2.6 million bpd in the second half
of the year, the official said.

Based on a recent 15 percent increase in recoverable reserves,
Maxus can maintain 150,000 bpd of production for three or four
years, he said.