Pertamina drills new oil well

Pertamina drills new oil well

State oil and gas firm PT Pertamina, through its eastern Java
unit, has been drilling a new oil well in Trembul, Ngawen, Blora,
Central Java, since Sept. 15.

As of Wednesday evening, a depth of 303 meters had been
drilled. At the 500-meter mark, geologists will be able to
ascertain whether the well holds oil reserves, Jufri, who is in
charge of drilling, said.

Oil exploration in the area -- which is on the border of
Central Java and East Java -- began in 1860 by the Dutch
colonials.

The drilling activities cost Pertamina about US$5,500 per day
-- much cheaper than exploration costs for offshore activities,
which on average cost about $40,000 to $50,000 per day, public
relations officer Anggadewi Widyastuti told The Jakarta Post on
Wednesday evening.

Pertamina is in dire need of finding new sources of oil, with
the country importing hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil --
both crude and refined -- to meet the rising domestic fuel
consumption demand.

The country's oil production has been declining over the past
few years by an average of more than 5 percent, due in part to
aging facilities and a lack of investment to build new ones. --
JP/Suherdjoko