Chevron's US$200 million oil recovery project approved
Monday, June 11 2007 - 04:39 AM WIB
The government has approved PT Chevron Pacific Indonesia's project to use chemical flood injection technology in its enhanced oil recovery (EOR) program in order to halt the fast decline in the company's oil production, currently the largest in the country, Kompas reported Monday.
The application of the technology which will cost the company about US$200 million will be carried out within the next two years.
The chairman of the regulatory body for oil and gas upstream industry BP Migas, Kardaya Warnika, said in Jakarta on Saturday that he had met the experts of the new EOR technology during his visit to Chevron's headquarters in Houston last week.
"If the new technology is successfully implemented, it will become the largest chemical flood injection technology in the world," he said, adding that the project was quite important in order to halt the fast decline in Chevron's oil production in Riau.
Chevron produces about a half of the country's oil production. But the production has continued to decline in recent years due to the decline in the oil reserves. This year it produces about 414,720 barrels per day, far below its target of 439,400 barrels per day.
The company has so far used steam flood injection technology in its EOR in Minas oil field in Riau. However, the capability of the technology to halt the drop in the oil production has declined. (*)