Development well drilling meets target

Drilling of development wells conducted by production sharing contractors this year look set to meet the target. Of 895 development wells proposed for drilling, 848 have been drilled as of the end of November.

?We are optimistic that the drilling of the remaining 47 wells will be completed in the final month of the year,? deputy operational control at the upstream oil and gas regulator (BPMIGAS) Rudi Rubiandini told a coordination meeting on survey, drilling and workover in Yogyakarta on Wednesday where BPMIGAS chief R. Priyono, head of field operation division Muliawan and representatives of 214 exploration and production contractors were present.

Rudi said the drilling works had increased national production by 63,000 barrels of oil per day and 360 MMSCFD of gas. A total of 882 development wells will be drilled next year, expecting to raise production by 92,000 bpod and 750 MMSCFD of gas.

He said the planned seismic survey and drilling work in exploration blocks were facing many challenges. Only 62 percent of 2D seismic surveys, 82 percent of 3D seismic surveys and 40 percent of drilling works proposed for this year had been realized.

BPMIGAS is expected to drill 103 exploration wells by the end of the year, the highest since 2002.

?About 60 percent of obstacles in the field is caused by non-technical matters, such as permit, overlapping status of the land and social issues,? Rudi said.

Priyono asked the contractors to learn from past experiences in their efforts to increase production. He said BPMIGAS had done its best to minimize the obstacles and would need the contractors to prepare for their works as early and as best as possible. (godang)