Inpex says its oil production in RI unaffected by quake

Inpex Corp., a Japanese oil and gas explorer and producer, said on Monday its oil and natural gas production in Indonesia hasn't been affected by the powerful earthquake that hit Sunday morning off the west coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

"We've confirmed with our Jakarta office that all of our plant operations there are normal, and none of them has had damage from the quake," said an Inpex spokesman as quoted by Dow Jones.

Inpex has a 50% stake in the project to produce 14,580 barrels a day of crude oil, and 138.7 million cubic feet of natural gas in the Attaka offshore block in eastern Kalimantan island.

The oil and gas developer also takes part in several other oil and gas development projects in Indonesia, which include holding a 13.07% stake in the project to produce 93,900 b/d of crude oil in the Southeast Sumatra offshore field with China's CNOOC Ltd.

The 9.0-magnitude earthquake, the world's strongest in 40 years, sent huge walls of water crashing down on beaches in eight countries, killing more than 11,600 people.(*)