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.