Oil, gas companies may boost exploration spending

Investment in Indonesia's oil and gas industry may rise 4.1 percent this year as companies including Total SA, PetroChina Co. and ChevronTexaco Corp. boost exploration, said an official at the state oil and gas regulator BPMIGAS as quoted by Petromindo.Com.

Oil and gas companies may spend as much as US$7.8 billion this year, compared with $7.49 billion last year, on exploration, development and production, Zanial Achmad, deputy head of planning at BPMIGAS, said in Jakarta on Wednesday. The figures are based on projections given by the companies, he said.

"Some of the projects halted one or two years ago because of land acquisition disputes, seismic problems and others are resuming," Zanial told reporters. "Producers such as Caltex Pacific are planning a significant sum to stem a decline in aging fields."

Indonesia, Southeast Asia's biggest oil and gas producer, aims to pump about 1.125 million barrels of crude oil and condensates a day this year. The country is one of only two members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries that are producingbelow the limit set by the group.

The companies are expected to spend $1 billion this year on exploration alone, 28 percent more than the $779 million spent in 2004, Zanial said. The companies plan to drill 106 exploration wells this year, he said.

PT Caltex Pacific Indonesia, a unit of ChevronTexaco, is Indonesia's biggest oil producer. It pumps about half of the country's crude oil a day. Exxon Mobil Corp. and Unocal Corp. are among the companies producing oil and gas in Indonesia. (godang)