TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Pertamina yet to achieve output target
State energy giant Pertamina did not achieve its production target in the first half as several of its oil and gas blocks continued to underperform
Change Size
S
span>State energy giant Pertamina did not achieve its production target in the first half as several of its oil and gas blocks continued to underperform.
Oil and gas production stood at 413,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) and 2,856 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) or 99.76 and 97.04 percent of the firm’s targets respectively.
However, Pertamina upstream director Dharmawan Samsu claimed the amount was actually higher as it did not include the 10 percent production shares for regional administrations.
“The volume didn’t include the production shares for regional administrations allocated through the 10 percent participating interest terms. So, production has exceeded 414,000 bopd,” he said recently.
“Some of our assets still underperformed, but other blocks booked higher results. Hence, in total our oil and gas production was still OK,” he went on to say.
At least eight of Pertamina’s upstream subsidiaries had exceeded their full-year targets as of June. The subsidiaries include Pertamina EP, which operates the Sukowati field, and Pertamina-Petrochina, which manages the Salawati Block.
Dharmawan said he was optimistic Pertamina would be able to achieve the set target by implementing several measures, namely continuing good drilling, well intervention and improving production facilities during the second half.
“By carrying out these efforts, we believe we can hike production until year-end. We can say that in the first six months we have learned on how to copy the [success] of our performing assets [to be applied to the underperforming ones],” he said.
In a bid to reach the full-year production target of 922,000 barrels oil equivalent per day (boepd), Pertamina has also increased its upstream budget by 10 percent to US$2.9 billion.
“Honestly, it [the full-year target] isn’t an easy target to reach. The management supported us by increasing our budget to $2.9 billion,” he said.
Previously, Pertamina stated that it will develop 98 new upstream projects this year with a total investment of $1.9 billion, the amount of which will be funded by the $2.9 billion upstream budget.
Of the total number, PT Pertamina EP is set to handle 47 projects, Pertamina Hulu Energi 29 projects, Pertamina Hulu Indonesia 19 projects, while Pertamina EP Cepu and Pertamina EP Cepu ADK will hold two and one project respectively.
“Some of those 98 projects aim at finding oil and gas potential in new areas, such as near the Mahakam Block,” Dharmawan said.
“[The new budget] is also to fund exploration activities and invest in our existing production facilities that need to be maintained,” he said.
The new upstream budget of $2.9 billion is 7.4 percent higher than last year’s disbursement of $2.7 billion, while the production target at 922,000 boepd is a slight increase from last year’s realization at 921,000 boepd.
Separately, Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Special Task Force (SKKMigas) chairman Dwi Soetjipto urged all oil and gas contractors, including Pertamina, to actively implement new technology to enhance production.
The technology, which is known as Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR), needs to be implemented as soon as possible in old wells, such as the wells in Pertamina’s Mahakam Block that has been operating for more than 30 years, he said.
“We need to carry out all of our work programs [in all oil and gas blocks] in a timely manner, massively and aggressively. We need also to speed up the operation transition in [Pertamina’s] Rokan Block,” Dwi said during a hearing at the House of Representatives on Thursday.
There are around 3.9 billion barrels of recoverable resources spread across 129 oil fields across Indonesia that could only be drilled using EOR technology, which was used in Pertamina EP’s Jatibarang, Tanjung and Gemah fields, he added.
