Oil, gas exploration increases despite financial catastrophe
Oil, gas exploration increases despite financial catastrophe
JAKARTA (JP): Oil and gas contractors intensified exploration
last year in anticipation of a recovery in oil prices over the
next few years, according to state oil and gas company Pertamina.
Pertamina said recently that in 1998 a total of 130
exploration wells were drilled across the country, a 48 percent
increase on the 88 wells sunk in 1997.
However, the statement said that contractors made slight cuts
in production development, drilling only 778 development wells, a
0.1 percent decrease on the 861 wells developed in 1997.
The total distance covered by seismic survey transects last
year dropped by 20 percent to 313,000 kilometers from 393,000
kilometers in 1997.
Second dimension seismic surveys were conducted over 22,000
kilometers last year, as against 29,000 kilometers in 1997, while
three dimension surveys were carried out over 291,000 kilometers
in 1998, compared to 364,000 kilometers in 1997.
Despite a fall in the number of development wells drilled,
expenditure on development wells rose to US$2.27 billion last
year from $1.99 billion in 1997.
Contractors also invested a total of $755 million in drilling
exploration wells, up from $664 in 1997.
A Pertamina official in charge of supervising foreign
contractors said earlier that contractors planned to spend $5.3
billion on exploration and production in 1999, an increase of $1
billion on 1998.
The official, Gatot K. Wiroyudo, said that contractors planned
to spend $912 million on exploration alone in 1999, up from $755
million last year.
"Despite a slump in oil prices, contractors plan to increase
their budgets for exploration in anticipation of an increase in
oil prices over the next four to five years," Gatot said.
A glut in supply resulting from global recession recently
forced oil prices below $10 per barrel for the first time in two
decades.
There are currently 162 production sharing contract areas in
Indonesia operated by a total of 48 contractors. These areas
account for 95 percent of the country's oil output, which is
currently around 1.28 million barrels per day (bpd). (jsk)