Pertamina projects output to increase to 656,000 boepd

State owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina (Persero) projected its output will reach 656 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) at the end of this year, up by 8.1 percent from 606.7 thosuand boepd last year thanks to increasing domestic output.

Upstream director Syamsu Alam said oil production is projected to increase by 12.5 percent to 313 thousand bpd at the end of this year from 278 thousand bpd last year. Meanwhile, gas production will increase 5 percent to 1.88 bscfd from 1.90 bscfd.

?The projection comes in line with the annual production growth of 8 percent targeted by Pertamina in its vision through 2025. We are optimistic Pertamina?s oil and gas production will continue to increase as a concrete proof of the firm?s commitment to becoming the backbone of the national energy resilience. (The growth is) sourced from both the existing assets and new assets acquired through non-organic activities (M&A and termination),? Syamsu Alam, Pertamina?s Upstream Director, said in a statement released by Pertamina on Friday.

Syamsu said domestic production is projected to grow by 9.4 percent to 539 thousand boepd at the end of this year, from 492.2 thousand boepd last year. This happens particularly due to the increase in the production of Banyu Urip field in Cepu block, where Pertamina?s production share is projected to reach 75 thousand boepd. Meanwhile, the firm?s foreign production is projected to increase 3 percent to 117 thousand boepd.

?In the second semester, production increase is expected to come from the Matindo Gas Development Project, which is around 50 mmscfd. Overseas, oil production increase is expected to come from Algeria, once the addition of production facilities is complete, and Iraq, where water injection program has been successfully carried out, and merger and acquisition activities. If everything runs well, the output is likely to increase even higher,? he said.

Earlier, the firm announced that its oil production reached 305 thousand bpd in the period of January-June 2016, up by 11.3 percent from 274 thousand bpd in the corresponding period of last year.

Gas production during the period was 1,938 mmscfd, up by 15 percent from 1,710 mmscfd in the same period of last year. If combined, total production in the first half of the year was 640 thousand boepd, up by 12.5 percent from 569 thousand boepd, the statement said.

Editing by Johannes Simbolon