Pertamina EP capex set at Rp 8.6t

PT Pertamina EP, a subsidiary of state oil and gas company PT Pertamina, expects to spend Rp 8.6 trillion (US$= Rp. 9,500) on capital expenditure next year.

Pertamina EP president director Salis Aprilian said on Wednesday the bulk of the budget would be used to finance exploration and drilling works. The company plans to drill 110 wells, 80 of them are development wells.

"We are ready to drill 3 wells in January, two of them are development wells, in Java and Sumatra," he said on the sidelines of a seminar on Oil & Gas and Mining Outlook 2010.

He added that 80 percent of Rp 6.2 trillion in capital expenditure set for this year had been realized. Not all the money will be spent, he said.

One of the obstacles is the belated drilling work of Pondok Tengah well due to difficulties in securing land use permit there. The well should have been drilled in May.

"We will also save a certain percent of the capex for next year," he said.

He said the company had set a target of increasing production to 128,000 barrels of oil per day next year from currently 125,500. Gas production is expected to rise to 1,100 mmscfd from 1,040 mmscfd today.(bernard)