Indonesia's 2009 oil production misses target

The Indonesian Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Agency (BP Migas) said that oil production in 2009 reached only 949,000 bpd, or 99 % of the 960,000-bpd goal set in the 2009 Revised State Budget.
Head of BP Migas, R. Priyono, said in Jakarta that the failure in reaching the oil production target was particularly caused by unscheduled halt of operation and lack of new oil field development.

"Without the two obstacles, the contractors would be able to produce up to 994,000 bpd," he said.
Giving a more detailed explanation, he said that without facing an obstacle to new oil field development, this year's oil production may reach 972,000 bpd, and without a temporary halt of operation oil production may reach 971,000 bpd.

Citing an example, Priyono pointed to the delay in production of the Banyuurip field in East Java, which also caused failure in reaching the oil production target.
"The delay, however, is beyond our control like refinery problems and pipeline permits," he said. He addedthat in 2010, BP Migas will exercise tighter control of maintenance operations to prevent the oil fields from too frequent operational disruptions.

This year, unscheduled operational disruptions reached 197 cases with an oil loss of 22,000 bpd.
"The most frequent disruptions occurred with the production facilities reaching 134 cases, power disruptions 30 cases, climate problems 23 cases, and theft 4 cases," he said.

Priyono added that natural oil production this year reached 7,960 mm cfpd, or 106 % above the 7,526 mm cfpd projected in the State Budget.
"As a whole, oil and gas production in 2009 reached 2,374 mm barrels of oil equivalent," he said. He said that throughout 2009, the production of 10 contractors, including Pertamina EP, Kodeco, and PetroChina, had increased, while that of 14 others surpassed the target set in the State Budget with a volume of 8,315 bpd.

In terms of state income, Priyono said it reached $ 19.7 bn, more than the $ 18.8 bn set in the State Budget. He also said that since April 2009, BP Migas was required to use the services of state banks in transaction payments.
"In this first year, the commitment to the use of state banks reached $ 3.49 bn," he said.

In 2009, the drillings covered 73 wells, including 50 already tested and 33 wells had been found, or with a success ratio of 46 %, or higher.
And the drilling of exploitation wells reached 969 wells, or 16.7 % higher than last year's 831 wells.

With regard to investment realization, Priyono said it reached $ 10.87 bn, which is 12 % lower than last year's $ 12.096 bn.
"The decline in investment was caused by a drop in commitment, procurement efficiency, construction delays, because of the lack of approval, and delayed drillings," he said. "This year's cost recovery reached $ 9.9 bn, or 90 % compared to the $ 11.05 bn set in the State Budget," he said.