PHE Targets Drilling Over 800 Oil Wells in 2026
PT Pertamina Hulu Energi (PHE) aims to drill approximately 800 development or production wells across its oil and gas operating areas in 2026. This is part of the company’s efforts to meet national production targets while mitigating risks from natural decline in aging oil wells.
CEO Awang Lazuardi explained that the company’s annual plan includes various technical activities, from seismic surveys to regular well maintenance.
“What work will be done? For exploration, we will conduct 904 km of 2D seismic surveys and 1,660 square km of 3D seismic surveys, along with 16 exploration wells. For development and production, there will be 800 wells, over 1,200 workovers, and more than 33,000 well interventions,” he said during a hearing with Commission XII of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI) in Jakarta, reported on Tuesday, 26 May 2026.
The drilling of hundreds of wells is deemed crucial given Indonesia’s oil fields currently experience an average natural decline rate of 24%. Without new drilling efforts, the oil production capacity in managed fields would inevitably plummet.
“We must understand that in the oil and gas business, we must combat natural decline, with an average of 24% for oil and 21% for gas. If no effort is made to counter this decline, oil production would naturally fall by 24% each year,” Awang explained.
In addition to conventional drilling, PHE is also venturing into non-conventional oil and gas (MNK) activities in Riau to discover new reserves. The company projects that exploration in this “non-traditional” sector will be pivotal for long-term national energy sustainability.
“We have previously stated that we will continue exploration in non-conventional oil. Insha’Allah, we plan to drill around 2-3 wells for non-conventional oil in Riau and attempt 16 wells for conventional exploration areas,” he added.
The company is also pushing for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) programmes and new field developments (greenfield) to address production shortfalls caused by technical issues and global geopolitical conditions earlier this year. It remains optimistic of achieving a combined oil and gas production target of 1.03 million barrels of oil equivalent per day by the end of 2026.
“We aim to reach 1.03 million barrels of oil equivalent per day through various initiatives, including a ‘filling the gap’ programme to make up for delays before year-end,” he concluded.