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ndonesia’s largest private domestic oil and gas firm PT Medco Energi Intenasional announced Tuesday that it would receive a five-year standby loan of US$140 million from Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) to fund investments and pay off debts.

Medco finance director Syamsurizal Munaf said the loan would be available 24 months after signing the agreement with the bank.

“The loan will enable Medco to pay back our debts and finance our capital expenditure so that we can grow sustainably,” he told reporters at a press conference in Jakarta.

Medco president director Lukman Mahfoedz said he was proud of the loan because it showed that national banks trust the company’s commitment to developing oil, natural gas and other energy businesses.

“On behalf of the company’s board of directors, I would like to thank all national banks, particularly BRI, for their contributions to the development of our company,” he said in a statement sent to The Jakarta Post.

The company aimed to produce 29,200 barrels of oil per day (bpd) and 180 billion British thermal unit per day (BBTUD) of gas this year, Medco operations director Frilia Berlini Yaman said, adding that the company’s oil production had reached 29,940 bpd as of Tuesday.

“Next year, we want to increase production, or at least maintain the current level, but I can’t disclose the precise number now,” she said.

She continued that several projects would go on stream in 2012, including the Singa gas field at Lematang block in South Sumatra. Gas production was expected to reach 50 BBTUD next year, up from 24 BBTUD at present, she added.

The production increase would be achieved by adding new equipment and optimizing the performance of existing reservoirs, Frilia said. She maintained, however, that Medco would be very careful in executing its production expansion plans in the field because wells there still showed high pressure and temperature.

Medco has also planned to accelerate the development of Aceh’s gas-rich Block A. The company owns a 41.67 percent stake in the block, while two other partners, Premier Oil Sumatra (North) BV and Japex Block A Limited, own 41.67 percent and 16.67 percent respectively.

“We plan to add to the block’s reserves by conducting exploration activities early next year. If we discover new gas reserves, we hope to supply gas to the Arun liquefied natural gas [LNG] plant,” Frilia said.

The company had talked to ExxonMobil, the operator of the Arun LNG plant, about the plan, but no deal had been made yet, she said, but added that tf exploration went well, the company expected to begin supplying gas to Arun in 2014.

Earlier this month Medco announced plans to issue bonds worth $150 million within 2 years. For the first phase the company would offer $50 million in bonds with a 5-year tenure and an interest rate of between 5.55 and 6.05 percent.

Medco said 60 percent of the proceeds from the bond issuance would be used to pay debts, while the remaining 40 percent would be allocated for new investments.