Medco?s Exspan sees crude production down, gas up in 2003

PT Exspan Nusantara, an upstream unit of publicly listed oil and gas company PT. Medco Energi International Tbk. expect crude production to go slightly down from 95,000 barrels per day (BPD) currently, a company executive said Wednesday.

?Crude production from Rimau oil block in Central Sumatra has reached its peak this year, and would go down a bit next year. Crude production from our newly acquired Tuban block in East java would not be able to offset the decrease,? Exspan?s operational director Edi Bambang Setiobudi told reporters.

Rimau block currently produces 70,000 BPD of crude. Earlier this year, Medco acquired 25 percent equity participation in Tuban oil block from EEX Corp along with two other exploration block in East Kalimantan and North Sumatra. Tuban field currently produces some 12,000 barrels of oil per day.

He did not say the exact production number would be next year, but said production decline would be at around ?several thousand barrels per day?.

However, he expected gas production would go up next year to between 100 ? 150 million standard cubic feet (MMCFD) from current production of 75 MMCFD.

?We are in talk with state electricity firm PLN to supply gas to its power plants in South Sumatra and East Kalimantan. We hope to seal the deal soon,? he said.

Exspan has oil and gas interest in Sumatra, Java, East Kalimantan and Central Sulawesi. (alex)