Pertamina EP says to return 30% of its work area

PT Pertamina EP, a subsidiary of PT Pertamina (Persero), said that it had planned to return around 30 percent of its total oil and gas work area across the country to the state.

The company's President Director Syamsu Alam said as quoted by indonesiafinancetoday.com in Jakarta on Tuesday that the 30 percent returned work area were fields that were difficult to develop because of their geographical condition, such as those in south east of West Java, and in central part of East Java.

He said that the others could not be developed because of their locations inside city centers, such as in Jakarta, and Surabaya.

Data from upstream authority BPMIGAS shows that among PSC contractors, Pertamina EP has the largest working area, reaching 138,611 square kilometers, or about 48 percent of Indonesia's total work area.

Meanwhile, PT Pertamina EP Public Relations Manager Agus Amperianto said that his company's oil production until end of March averaged at 127,000 barrels per day, which was more than 5 percent below its set target of 134,520 barrels per day, and around 6 percent below the target of 135,000 barrels per day set in the 2012 state budget.

He said that the failure to meet the target was mainly due to the fact that its Bunyu Limau and Rantau fields, could not yet contribute significantly. "The production from the two fields cannot yet compensate the natural decline from other fields," he said.(*)