Total to spend $1.5b in 2006 on gas production
Total to spend $1.5b in 2006 on gas production
Leony Aurora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
French oil and gas producer Total SA plans to spend US$1.5
billion next year, 66 percent more than the amount it has spent
this year, to develop its fields and produce natural gas in
Indonesia to maintain its production level and meet commitments.
The company will focus its development on the Sisi and Nubi
fields in offshore Kalimantan, Ananda Idris, a spokesman for
Total's Indonesian unit, said on Tuesday.
"We expect Sisi and Nubi to start producing gas in 2007,
targeting some 500 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd),"
said Ananda.
Output at the fields will help the company maintain its supply
to PT Badak NGL's liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Bontang,
East Kalimantan, he said.
Total produces some 2.5 billion cubic feet (bcf) per day at
present, lower than its daily peak production of 2.7 bcf. Next
year's target is to continue production at 2.5 bcf per day, said
Ananda.
The Bontang plant relies heavily on Total, which supplies most
of its gas needs. Output from aging fields operated by Chevron
Corp. and Vico Indonesia is falling, leaving Total the main
supporter of the plant.
Total will also use the capital to drill in several other
fields, namely Peciko phase V and Tunu phase 10, in Kalimantan,
said Ananda.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is slated to launch the
production of Total's Peciko phase IV field, which is expected to
produce 1.25 bcf per day, in Jambi on Friday.
Falling output from fields in gas-rich Kalimantan has forced
the Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Agency (BP Migas) to
negotiate with its Asian buyers to accept fewer shipments.
Buyers in South Korea, Taiwan and Japan have agreed to a
supply cut from the Bontang plant by 30 cargoes -- equivalent to
1.8 million metric tons of LNG -- from the ordered 370 shipments
next year.
Total's current operation sites cover an area of 2,000
hectares, with seven oil and gas fields, and 500 production wells
in remote areas in East Kalimantan, including Handil, Bekapai,
Peciko, Tambora and Tunu.