Cepu block halts crude production

Four months into production, Mobile Cepu Ltd, the operator of the Cepu block, was forced to halt production due to the lack of facilities, Bisnis Indonesia reported Friday

BPMIGAS? deputy head for operation Eddy Purwanto said that the block's production had been halted because the firm has yet to complete the construction of all production facilities.

Besides, the operator of the block has yet to receive a permit for installing gas transportation pipeline connecting a receiving facility owned by PetroChina in Mudi to a storage tanks Palang, Tuban Sea.

"The crude production is suspended until the permit (for the pipeline) is issued," he said.

The company started production in December, and the output was 50 to 100 barrels a day of oil before the suspension, he said. Mobil Cepu used tankers to move the crude by road before it stopped the production. "This is not safe, and it is risky," he said.

The block, located in the border areas of Central Java and East Java, is equally owned by state owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina and American firm ExxonMobil Corp. (*)