Medco oil production surges in 1st quarter

Publicly listed oil company PT Medco Energi International's crude oil nearly doubled to 60,900 barrels per day during the first quarter of his this year from 36,818 bpd in the January-March period, last year, Bisnis Indonesia reported on Tuesday.

Corporate secretary Sugiharto said that the company's average oil production growth reached 52 percent if compared to the production of 51,096 bpd during the fourth quarter of last year.

He said during the January-March period, this year the company's sales revenue surged to Rp 518 billion (1US$=Rp 8500) from Rp 353 billion during the same period, last year thanks to higher production and an increase in the realized prices.

The net profit surged to Rp 179 billion during the first quarter from Rp 34 billion in the same period in 1999, he said, adding that the average oil price rose to $26.15 per barrel from $11.37 during the same period.

Sugiharto said the oil production was expected to further increase to 74,000 bpd in the fourth quarter of this year due to an increase in exploration activities. (*)