Indonesia oil output falls below 950,000 bpd target

THERE is fear that Indonesia would not be able to reach its production target of 950,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) set for this year, following a fall in the daily production of several oil companies as of January.

Indonesian upstream oil and gas regulator BPMigas reported that the country's oil production was only 886,508 bpd as of Jan 31.

As of the end of 2011, the country's average production rate was 905,000 bpd, English daily The Jakarta Post reported today.

BPMigas head Raden Priyono said there were 36 oil contractors who had failed to achieve the production target set by the 2012 state budget, including major names like Total E&P Indonesie, Chevron Pacific Indonesia (CPI), ConocoPhillips and China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC).

"We have sent warning letters to the 36 oil companies," he told the House Representatives Commission VII overseeing energy during a hearing session on Thursday in Jakarta.

According to BPMigas' data, France-based Total, for instance, only produced 72,200 bpd, missing its target of 85,800 bpd, while US-based CPI's production was 352,727 bpd, lower than its target of 357,200 bpd.

CNOOC South East Sumatra (SES) also failed to reach its target of 38,000 bpd by producing only 32,411 bpd and ConocoPhillips' (Grissik) output was only 10,068 bpd or 2,132 bpd, below its target of 12,200.

The daily reported that the country also missed out on oil revenue through the failure of Pertamina EP, a subsidiary of state-run oil and gas firm PT Pertamina, to reach its production target of 135,000 bpd.

The company's oil output was only 123,879 bpd.

Pertamina Hulu Energi-West Madura Offshore (PHE-WMO), another Pertamina subsidiary, also fell short of its target of 23,000 bpd this year by producing only 11,175 bpd.

In May, Pertamina took over the operation of the WMO block from Korea-based Kodeco Energy.

The 36 companies only contributed a total of 739,491 bpd of oil in January, lower than the target of 817,423 bpd.

BPMigas deputy for operations Rudi Rubiandini, explained that Total failed to achieve its target, because the proven reserves in its working areas was lower than estimated.

In the case of WMO, the failure was due to delays in the handing over from the previous operator.

Bernama