Indonesia cannot meet its daily crude oil

A PT Pertamina worker opens a gauge near crude oil tanks on Bunyu island, Indonesias East Kalimantan province February 8, 2011. Indonesian state energy firm Pertamina plans to spend USD1 billion in 2011 for acquisitions of oil and gas blocks, as the country seeks to boost declining production. Pertamina has said it expects crude and condensate production of 132,000 barrels per day for this year, up just 1 percent from last year, though the former OPEC member country has often missed production targets because of declining output at ageing fields.

Indonesia cannot meet its daily crude oil production target of 970,000 barrels due to various problems hampering production so there is a shortfall of 70,000 barrels per day, according to the Upstream Oil and Gas Executive Agency (BP Migas).

BP Migas spokesperson Elan Biantoro told media here, on Thursday, that crude production in the period of January 1 to February 22 amounted to 905,000 barrels per day. The potential crude loss caused by the problems have reached 37,850 barrels per day.

The daily production figure of 905,000 barrels per day falls short of the targeted 970,000 barrels per day as set in the state revenue and expenditure budget for 2011, he added. Biantoro said that there are 105 causes which have caused the potential loss ranging from unplanned shutdowns, off-takings to delays in project implementation.

He explained the unplanned shutdowns have been due to natural disturbances such as excessive rainfalls, lightning strikes, high waves and floods. Production disturbance outside planning, he said, has been related to the breakdowns of production facilities that shutting down production operations that causing a potential loss of 8,000 barrels per day.

Other problems registered as being production non-loss potentials but remaining to have posed as reasons for production disturbances, including land overlapping that impacting on the delays in well drilling schedules that happening at Chevron Pacific Indonesia, Petrochina Jabung, Pertamina EP and JOB Talisman Jambi Merang.

Biantoro said BP Migas will launch a more intensive control over the five biggest contractors whose production have significantly dwindled, namely Chevron Pacific Indonesia, Pertamina EP, Total E&P Indonesia, ConocoPhillips and Kodeco Energy whose production has totally decreased about 10,000 barrels per day.

However, for liquefied natural gas, production up to February 22 has indicated a satisfactory performance with a daily production of 8.66 million cubic meters, so that total combined production of oil and gas amounting to 2.45 million barrels equivalent of oil per day, surmounting the state budget target of 2.36 million barrels per day.

"The shortfall in crude production is compensated by the performance of gas production," he said.