Indonesia should have another big field to stop declining production

By Godang Sitompul

The only quick solution to arrest the decline in Indonesian oil production and even reverse that trend is to find another oil field the size of Duri or Minas fields owned by PT Chevron Pacific Indonesia (CPI), a senior official of upstream authority BPMIGAS said on Thursday.

?But currently, Indonesia has to accept the fact that until now it has only one new big field, namely Banyu Urip in Bojonegoro. Although it is considered big, its potential production will only be around 165,000 barrels of oil per day, which is still far lower than those of Minas and Duri,? Rudi Rubiandini, BPMIGAS Deputy for Operational Control, told Petromindo.com.

Indonesia, therefore, needs big field as big the size of Duri or Minas field.

He was apparently commenting on a statement made by senior energy expert Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, a former minister of energy and mineral resources who is now a special advisor to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Kuntoro was reported as saying that it was irrational that Indonesian oil production has been steadily declining. ?Our production of only 890,000 barrels per day is not acceptable. I think there are still many ways to raise the production.?

?The Indonesian production of crude oil could be made to reach over 1 million barrels per day. The failure to reach that level indicates there is something wrong with our oil and gas management,? he added.

But Rudi Rubiandini noted that BPMIGAS had been working hard to stop the declining trend. ?During the last four years, the natural decline of 14 percent per year had been pressed down to only an average of 4 percent per year; and for this year, BPMIGAS even managed to push it down to only about 1 percent per year or down to 890,000 barrels per day as compared to 902,000 barrels per day in the previous year,? he added.

When Banyu Urip?s production reches it peak, Indonesian oil production is expected to surpass 1 million barrels per day.

Indonesia has seen its oil production declining since 1996, when its total production peaked at 1.6 million barrels per day, until 2012, when production has only reached 890,000 barrels per day. Since 2003, it has resigned from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) because it had become a net importer of oil.

Editing by Benget Besalicto Tnb.