Indonesia crude output falls 0.8% in May

Crude oil production in Indonesia, Southeast Asia's biggest producer, fell 0.8 percent in May from a month earlier, data from the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry showed.

Output declined to 918,050 barrels a day from 925,000 barrels a day in April, according to ministry data. Heavy rains in Sumatra and Java islands as well as rig shortages disrupted drilling in May, Dodi Hidayat, deputy operation of oil regulator BPMigas, told Bloomberg by telephone in Jakarta Friday.

Condensate production declined 5.2 percent to 120,000 barrels a day in May from 126,700 barrels a day the previous month, the ministry said. Condensate is a type of light oil produced in association with natural gas.

Indonesia, the second-smallest member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, plans to produce 1.11 million barrels a day this year. The country produced 1.06 million barrels of oil and condensate a day last year, less than the target of 1.075 million barrels a day, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said in December. (*)