Oil output recovers as smog problem ends

The country?s oil production has picked up following the end of haze-triggered disruption in several oil and gas working areas.

Operations deputy at the upstream oil and gas authority SKK Migas deputy, Muliawan was quoted as saying on Tuesday that oil production had reached 800,000 barrels per day (bpd).

?There were disruptions well-drilling stopped, electricity outages occurred and rig operations halted. However, the effects of the haze have ended and we hope to accelerate production to return to the [output] schedule? Muliawan said as quoted by The Jakarta Post.

Earlier this month, SKK Migas blamed thick haze from forest fires in Riau, Sumatra, for the shutdown of hundreds of oil wells. It was estimated that as many as 12,000 bpd of oil were lost due to the disruption.

Among the sites affected were the Rokan working area, which is operated by PT Chevron Pacific Indonesia. For its emergency maintenance due to the haze, Chevron shut down 573 wells and halted the operation of 15 water injection pumps. Rokan?s losses during the cessation were estimated at 8,800 bpd of oil, but production at the site has now resumed.

Operations were also disrupted at the Coastal Plains Pekanbaru (CPP) working area, which is operated by PT BOB-Bumi Siak Pusako, and the Malacca Strait working area, which is operated by EMP Malacca Strait.

The CPP is estimated to have lost 4,000 bpd of oil and the Malacca Strait a cumulative 7,000 barrel. Both have now resumed production.

The haze was the second natural disturbance to affect oil working areas this year, following bad weather in early January.

Despite the recovery from the latest disruption, national oil output remains below the average daily production level of 870,000 bpd as targeted in the 2014 State Budget. (*)