T

he Banyu Urip oil field at Cepu block has restarted production although the construction work in the main site is still suspended following workers'€™ unrest late last week.

During the disturbance last Saturday the output from Banyu Urip dropped to as low as 30 barrels of oil per day (bopd) from its normal level of approximately 80,000 bopd, according to the Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Special Task Force (SKKMigas) spokesperson Elan Biantoro.

'€œThe production has returned to its normal level following the restart of production from the well-pad B and EOE [early oil expansion] facility. Activities in EPC [engineering, procurement, construction] 5 have also been resumed but activities in EPC 1 are still on hold,'€ Elan said.

Last Saturday, Banyu Urip'€™s subcontract workers, who are employed by the EPC 1 contractor Tripatra-Samsung became angry when they were not allowed to depart the worksite at lunch hour.

Several properties, including vehicles and offices, were damaged during the incident.

Many production facilities at the Cepu block, which is expected to become the backbone of Indonesia'€™s oil production, are currently under construction.

State-owned oil and gas company Pertamina, through its subsidiary Pertamina EP Cepu, holds a 45 percent interest in the Cepu block while ExxonMobil Indonesia'€™s subsidiary ExxonMobil Cepu Limited owns another 45 percent stake.

The remaining 10 percent stake is held by the Cepu Block Cooperation Bodies, which consist of locally owned companies run by the administrations of Blora regency, Bojonegoro regency, East Java provincial administration and Central Java provincial administration.

ExxonMobil Indonesia reported that work at the EPC 1 and 5 sites was stopped and production from facilities near the incident was temporarily halted.

ExxonMobil Indonesia vice president for public and government affairs Erwin Maryoto said activities at EPC 5 recommenced on Monday.

'€œMeanwhile, EPC 1 planning and repairs to the damaged offices are ongoing. Workers will restart following completion of the investigation,'€ he said.

The overall development of Banyu Urip comprises five projects: the development of central processing facilities (EPC 1), an onshore pipeline (EPC 2), an offshore pipeline and mooring tower (EPC 3), a floating storage and off-take vessel (EPC 3), and supporting infrastructure (EPC 5).

Work on EPC 2, 3 and 4, have been completed while EPC 1 and 5 still ongoing. Banyu Urip is currently producing output from its early production facility (EPF) and EOE facilities.

The central processing facility (CPF) is the most crucial part of the development because it will have a total production of 165,000 bopd.

Combined with the EPF and CPF, Banyu Urip will be able to reach a peak of production of 205,000 bopd, or around 25 percent of this year'€™s national production target of 825,000 bopd.

'€œWe remain optimistic that we can achieve the target. Halting work at EPC 1 for two weeks is difficult for us. However, we hope that peak production can be reached in October or November so that the national target is achieved,'€ SKK Migas'€™ Elan said.

Prior to the incident, development of Banyu Urip had been delayed several times for various reasons, including proposed changes in details of the development, policy difficulties with the local administration and a prolonged land-procurement process.