Govt targets lower oil production due to security problem

The government has set a target to produce about 1.23 million barrels per day (BPD) in the 2002 state budget, far below between 1.3 million BPD and 1.5 million in this year.

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro said in Jakarta on Friday that the conservative oil production target had been factored a possible security disturbance in major oil producers such as Caltex in Riau.

According Purnomo, the local people?s resentment against the operation of Caltex, which produces about 80 percent of the country?s oil output, had caused a decline in the total oil production by about 100,000 BPD.

The government also lowered the reference price of oil exports in the 2002 state budget at US$22 per barrel from $24 per barrel this year.

But the minister said the low oil revenue target would not significantly affect the overall state revenues. According to him, based on the previous experiences the realized oil price had been always above the government?s target.

The government?s revenue target from oil declines to Rp 37 trillion next year from Rp 57 trillion this year, from natural gas drops to Rp 13 trillion from Rp 17 trillion while from the mining sector falls to Rp 999 billion from Rp 1.1 trillion. (*)