U.S. Chevron to drill new wells in 350 locations in Indonesia

JAKARTA, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- PT Chevron Pacific Indonesia (CPI) will start drilling in 250 to 350 locations during the second half of this year to further increase oil production in the company's oil concession areas in Riau province, local media reported Thursday. "We are committed to improving our oil and natural gas production in Indonesia," Chevron's Spokesman Donny Indrawan was quoted by Jakarta Post as saying.

Donny claimed the company's current production had soared above the government's target. However, he refused to divulge a specific figure."As of the first half of this year, I can say that our production is strong and above target."

Gde Pradnyana, operations deputy at upstream oil and gas regulator BPMigas, said that Chevron produced 346,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd), slightly above the targeted 340,000 bopd, which was set in its work plan and budget (WPnB).

However, the production was still below target if referring to the figure set in the 2012 state budget, of 355,000 bopd, he said.

Gde added that Chevron's production levels had not yet returned to normal after the Duri pipe leak in 2010.

Operations at several Chevron wells in the Duri field were temporarily halted when the pipe, owned by PT Transportasi Gas Indonesia (TGI), which channels gas to a Chevron power plant, began leaking,

The incident cost the country around 150,000 bopd. However, this year's production was still rated as good with a decline rate of between 1 and 3 percent, Gde said.

Last year, Chevron produced a total of 356,606 bopd. The company, which is the largest crude oil producer in Indonesia, derives most of its oil from Sumatra, primarily from the Rokan oil block in Riau province. Enditem

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