Indonesia?s oil output at 954,000 bpd

Upstream oil, gas regulatory body BPMIGAS said on Tuesday that Indonesia?s oil output from January this year averaged 954,000 barrels per day (bpd), slightly lower than the target of 960,000 bpd set in the 2009 state budget.

BPMIGAS head R. Priyono said there were several reasons that hampered the country from reaching the state budget target, including technical problems experienced by some oil and gas contractors.

Still, he said, the lower-than-targeted output would not affect the state's oil revenue as there are still crude reserves held in the country's storages that can be sold to compensate the fall in revenue as a result of the lower output. (bernard)