Pertamina optimistic on small 2002 oil output rise: Report

Indonesian state oil company Pertamina said it was optimistic the country could raise oil output this year by some five percent from the current 1.25 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude and condensate, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

Effendi Situmorang, Pertamina director of management and production sharing, said security woes appeared to no longer be a major issue for operators in some regions, which could open the way for contractors to develop more wells to boost output.

"I think Indonesia can increase production to a level near the forecast 1.32 million barrels per day of crude and condensate..," Situmorang was quoted by Reuters as saying on Tuesday.

"This is the time where oil contractors can think about developing oil wells to boost production," Situmorang added.

Indonesia's crude output fell slightly to 1.10 million bpd in January from 1.12 million bpd the previous month, while condensate production rose to 147,000 bpd from 140,000 bpd, a Pertamina source said.

The government has set crude and condensate production at 1.32 million bpd and an oil price of $22 per barrel in the 2002 budget.

Situmorang said there was room to boost oil production from Caltex Pacific Indonesia, Repsol-YPF and Gulf Indonesia.

Caltex, the country's biggest oil contractor, is owned by Chevron Texaco Corp. Gulf Indonesia is partly owned by Gulf Canada Resources.

China offshore oil giant CNOOC recently agreed to buy the Indonesian assets of Spain's Repsol-YPF.

Indonesia is Asia's only OPEC member and has a quota of 1.125 million bpd of crude oil. (*)