Medco raises output of Sumatra oil field
JAKARTA (JP): Oil company PT Exspan Kalimantan, a subsidiary of Medco Energi Corp, has increased the output of the Kaji Semoga oil field in South Sumatra by 7,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 10,000 bpd.
"The development of the oil field is continuing. We hope to increase its output to 30,000 bpd by 1999," said Exspan president John S. Karamoy at the ceremony to celebrate the new level of output here yesterday.
The celebration was attended by the president of state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina, Faisal Abda'oe, and Medco's chairman Arifin Panigoro.
The Kaji Semoga field is located in the village of Lais, Musi Banyu Asin district. It is located in the Rimau Block contract area which was bought by Medco from Exxon and Mobil in 1995.
The oil field was discovered in August last year and operations began last March with an initial output of 3,000 bpd.
Karamoy said U.S. consultancy firm DeGolyer and MacNaughton had estimated Kaji Semoga's oil reservoir to be 350 million barrels.
"It's the largest oil reservoir found onshore in Indonesia in the last 15 years," said Karamoy.
He said Exspan had spent US$17.5 million to bring Kaji Semoga's production to its current level.
All oil that is produced is transported through a pipeline to the Musi oil refinery in South Sumatra, owned by Pertamina.
According to Arifin, the additional output at Kaji Semoga brings the total output of Medco's oil and gas fields in the country to an equivalent 30,000 bpd.
Faisal noted in his speech that it was predicted that Indonesia would be a net-oil importer in the next decade as existing oil fields were going to mature.
The discovery of the Kaji Semoga oil field and some other oil fields in the future would delay Indonesia from becoming a net- oil importer, he said.
Tanjung Batu
Yesterday's ceremony also marked the completion of development by another subsidiary of Medco, PT Exspan Kalimantan. A 33.6-km pipeline was built from the company's Kutai Lama Utara gas field to Tanjung Batu in East Kalimantan.
Exspan Kalimantan would transport 10 million cubic feet of natural gas per day to feed the Tanjung Batu combined-cycle power plant owned by state-owned electricity company PLN. The power plant had a capacity of 66 megawatts (MW), Karamoy said.
He said the company spent $13.4 million for the pipeline's development, which was completed early this month.
Karamoy also said Exspan Sumatra had recently completed the development of two gas pipelines worth $4.5 million in South Sumatra last September.
One pipeline stretches 23.7 kilometers from the Pian gas field to Pertamina's gas network, which leads to a plant owned by state-owned fertilizer company Pupuk Sriwijaya in the provincial capital of Palembang.
The other pipeline, 33.6 kilometers long, connects the Gunung Kembang gas field to a similar Pertamina gas network.
Karamoy said the development of the pipeline would ensure the supply of gas to Pupuk Sriwijaya and to other industries which use gas in the southern part of Sumatra. (jsk)