Medco's oil reserves stand at 240 million barrels

Local publicly-listed oil and gas company PT Medco Energi Internasional Tbk has the chance to improve its oil reserves by 30 percent from the current level of 180 million barrels to 240 million barrels, following the finding of a oil field.

Medco's finance director Sugiharto revealed that the newly found oil field is Matra-Nova in South Sumatra.

"If from that field we get new findings, it is expected that our reserves will increase by 30 percent from the current level of 180 million barrels," he said at an analyst update in Jakarta.

From the existing drilling exploration, Matra-Nova oil field, which is part of Medco's South Sumatra Extension Block, is estimated to contain around 20 million barrels of oil reserves, or 10 percent of Medco's current proven reserves.

This year, the company targets to boost its crude oil output by 20 percent to around 80,000 barrels per day from 66,000 barrels per day in 2000.

The company's crude oil output has been increasing in the past three years, from only 32,339 bpd in 1998 to 41,300 bpd in 1999 and 66,800 last year. (*)