P

ertamina EP is less upbeat about meeting its oil output target this year after the firm was
forced to shut down operations at its Jatibarang oil field in West Java, following industrial action by its employees demanding that the company end its outsourcing scheme.

The upstream business unit of state-run energy firm PT Pertamina initially aimed to produce 132,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) this year, as specified in the 2012 revised state budget, Pertamina EP spokesman Agus Amperianto said on Monday.

“However, we expect our oil production to reach less than 131,000 bpd by the end of this year because output from our Jatibarang field has been halted since last week,” he told The Jakarta Post in a telephone interview.

 Around 700 outsourced workers at Pertamina EP’s oil field in Indramayu, West Java, have reportedly staged a series of protests since last Wednesday, blocking the roads to the oil production facility and shutting down the field’s compressor.

At least four Pertamina EP operators suffered injuries after an attack by some of the protesters,
according to the company.

According to the workers, the demand for Pertamina EP to end its outsourcing policy was initially presented to the company in July, but it had still not been accepted.

Jatibarang field has a capacity to produce around 1,500 bpd. The estimated financial loss from the oil-field shutdown stood at Rp 7.6 billion (US$790,678).

“We are hoping for the Jatibarang field to return to normal production in the next three to four days, but that depends on the development of the current situation,” Agus said.

 As of September this year, Pertamina EP’s oil output had reached 127,900 bpd, below the government’s target of 132,000 bpd.

At first, the firm’s oil production had been expected to reach 135,000 bpd before it was revised to the current target.

Jatibarang oil field is one of the oil and gas fields owned by Pertamina EP, others include Rantau field, Pangkalan Susu field and Jambi field in Sumatra as well as Sangatta, Bunyu and Papua in the eastern part of Indonesia.

Pertamina EP, according to Agus, will try to boost its planned oil output from its Tiung Biru oil and gas field in the Cepu Block, East Java, which currently is still under the firm’s plan of development.

“We are still waiting to obtain the permits from the local administration. We hope that we can
start production at the Tiung Biru oil and gas field in the next two weeks,” said Agus, adding that
the Tiung Biru field had a capacity to produce 1,500 bpd.

Separately, upstream oil and gas regulator BPMigas operations deputy Gde Pradnyana told the Post that the incident in the Jatibarang field would not only hurt the nation’s oil output, but also presented a “shocking” spectacle to investors in the oil and gas exploration field.

“We are trying to revamp our image in the oil and gas exploration field, but things like this will only do the opposite because investors will question our security,” he said.

In addition, he said, BPMigas expected that the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry would help solve the prolonged outsourcing policy and labor disputes.

In June, PT Pertamina said that crude oil supply for the Balongan refinery in West Java was cut by around 1,000 bpd due to similar disruption.

As previously reported by the Post, last year, Pertamina EP failed to achieve its oil output target of 132,000 bpd, producing only 126,000 bpd.

BPMigas said the company had lost around 6,000 bpd due to land-related problems and unplanned shutdowns. Next year, the company aims to produce 134,000 bpd.