EMP strikes more oil at Sepanjang field
Wednesday, April 30 2008 - 05:38 AM WIB
The company's Vice President-Capital Market Herwin W. Hidayat said that Kangean Energy had discovered an additional oil reserve at Sepanjang's newly drilled SED-4 well.
"Drillings at the SED-4 well have reached the targeted depth of 7,040 feet and on April 15, 2008, test results showed the well could produce up to 6,500 barrels per day (bpd)," he said.
The discovery is the third within the field.
Last year, the company announced that it had found oil in the SED-1 well, with an estimated production rate of 3,500 bpd. In March this year, the company again announced that it had discovered oil in the SED-3 well with a production rate of 3,000 bpd.
Herwin said operations at Sepanjang field remain on suspension. EMP shut the field down on Dec. 26, 2007 after bad weather and strong wind hit the field?s floating storage and offloading unit (FSO)unit. The field normally produces 4,000 barrels of oil per day.
"EMP is expected to recommence commercial production at Sepanjang in the September-October this year," Herwin told Petromindo.com.
He also said EMP would replace the existing 230,000 barrel oil per day (bopd) FSO unit with a larger one with capacity of around 400,000 bopd to anticipate additional oil output from the newly-discovered wells.
EMP also reported that its net profit in the first quarter 2008 increased 50 percent to Rp 27 billion (1US$=Rp 9,230) compared to the same quarter of last year.
The net profit soared due to higher oil price and higher gas production. The company's average realized oil price increased by 62 percent to US$ 94.4 per barrel, while gas output increased by 22 percent to 7 BCF in the quarter. (denny)