Chevron?s oil production falls as power outage hits Minas

Crude production at Chevron?s Minas field onshore Central Sumatra had gone down by 40 percent after a lightning struck and severely damaged the field?s electricity transformers Thursday morning.

BPMIGAS Deputy Chairman in Charge of Operations Dodi Hidayat told Petromindo.Com that production loss at the Minas field is expected at 40,000 BPD.

Chevron Indonesia spokesperson Santi Manuhutu said that the lightning struck the field?s three transformers in Duri, causing power supply drop to most of the oil wells. ?Currently one trafo had been reactivated and production has reached 70 percent,? she said, adding that repair team is trying to bring the trafos back to normal.

The power outage also hit the nearby BOB Bumi Siak Pusako oil fields, which depends on Chevron?s electricity to power its oil wells. ?Production has been severely hit by the outage as most of the wells had stopped producing,? Bumi Siak Pusako Director Jusmadi Yusuf told Petromindo.Com. Normally, he said BOB produced 22,000 BOPD.

Chevron Pacific Indonesia, a unit of US oil giant Chevron Corp, is the biggest oil producer in Indonesia from its Central Sumatra fields with production of around 420,000 BPD including from Minas.(godang)