RI aims to up oil output to 1.3m bpd by 2008
RI aims to up oil output to 1.3m bpd by 2008
Leony Aurora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
In an attempt to keep the country from being a net importer,
Indonesia plans to increase oil output to 1.3 million barrels per
day (bpd) by 2008, says a top executive.
At present, the oil output stands at slightly below 1 million
bpd.
Chairman of the Oil and Gas Upstream Regulatory Agency (BP
Migas) Rachmat Sudibyo said on Wednesday that the additional
production of crude oil and condensate would come from new fields
as well as from intensifying yields from old ones.
"We're expecting 180,000 bpd from the Cepu oil field and
150,000 bpd from the Jeruk field," he said, referring to two key
oil fields located in East Java.
Rachmat also said that the country was counting on a total of
30,000 bpd from several marginal fields across the archipelago.
The preparations to begin oil production in Cepu have come to
a halt pending the settlement of a dispute between state oil and
gas firm Pertamina and ExxonMobil, which currently holds the
concession rights to operate in the area.
Over the past three years, ExxonMobil has been trying to
extend its contract, which will expire in 2010, but Pertamina has
so far refused an extension.
The Jeruk field, whose concession lays in the hands of
Australia's third largest oil and gas producer Santos Ltd., is
currently being prepared for production.
Also Rachmat said that PT Caltex Pacific Indonesia would
utilize chemical technology to increase output and impede decline
at its fields in Riau. An additional 30,000 bpd was expected to
be derived from that effort.
Oil fields in Riau produce about half of the nation's total
oil output.
"The government is trying to change from petroleum-related
fuels to natural gas and geothermal sources of fuel, so that the
domestic demand will go down," said Rachmat.
The country's oil output has fallen by 5 percent annually over
the last decade to less than one million bpd, mainly due to aging
oil fields and a lack of exploration for new ones.
Increasing domestic demand, which rises by an average of 7
percent per year, combined with the declining output, sent
Indonesia's crude oil exports down to 30,000 bpd in 2004, roughly
a third of what it booked the previous year.
Should the country become a net crude oil importer, it will
likely be asked to leave the Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC).
Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro
said last month that Indonesia, the only Southeast Asian OPEC
member, might withdraw its membership from the oil cartel.
"The study is not completed yet," added Rachmat, who chairs
the team looking into the benefits and disadvantages of leaving
OPEC.
He did not elaborate on the specific time frame.
In January, Indonesia produced an average of 952,600 barrels
per day of crude, well below its 1.4 million bpd quota set by
OPEC.