Cepu first oil production delayed: Pertamina

First oil production from the Cepu block jointly operated state oil and gas firm Pertamina and American energy giant ExxonMobil Corp has been delayed by about nine months to October 2009.

 

"It's hard to find rigs and to acquire lands," Pertamina's Deputy President Director Iin Arifin Takhyan told Reuters in the sidelines of a conference in Singapore.

 

Pertamina and Exxon had been hoping to begin initial production of about 10,000 barrels per day (bpd) at Cepu in late 2008 or early 2009.

 

The Cepu block, located in the border areas of Central Java and East Java, has estimated oil reserves of about 600 million barrels spread over several wells, including Banyu Urip, the largest well with an estimated reserve of 350 million barrels.

 

Meanwhile,  ExxonMobil Oil Indonesia's External Relation Vice President Maman Budiman told Petromindo.Com that land acquision remained an obstacle for the project.

 

"As long as land acquisition problem has not been settled,  we can't make a fixed production schedule. With regards rig, it is not a problem because we already obtained (a) rig which is now being operated in Cepu," (godang)