Pertamina sets higher 2015 output target
Friday, January 2 2015 - 01:26 AM WIB
Pertamina reported that it oil production last year reached 259,000 barrel of oil per day (bopd), which is around 7.5 percent lower than the initial target of 280,200 bopd. Meanwhile, its gas output in 2014 stood at 1,562 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd), slightly below the target of 1,568 mmscfd.
The paper quoted Pertamina upstream director Syamsu Alam as saying that a number of oil blocks saw high output last year. The West Madura Offshore (WMO) block and the Offshore North West Java (ONWJ) block saw increased output in 2013, but the overall target could not be achieved due to declines in most of its existing oil blocks.
?In WMO, production reached 26,000 bopd, about 26 percent higher compared to its output when we took over the block. In ONWJ, we lifted 44,000 bopd, or 47 percent higher than when we acquired it,? Syamsu said.
For this year, the company expects oil output to touch 351,000 bopd, according to upstream director Syamsu Alam. The figure will be a 35.5 percent increase from its production realization in 2014.
In gas output, the company is targeting around a 6.8 percent increase to 1,668 mmscfd.
Pertamina finance director Arief Budiman said the company planned to invest about $5 billion in 2015.
?However, we may need to review the plan, whether it is still feasible with the current weak prices,? Arief said.
Under the current production volume plan, Pertamina expects its revenue and profit to increase by around 10 to 15 percent. However, as Arief said, the real figures would depend on the company?s assessment of project economics amid declining oil prices.
Meanwhile, Media Indonesia reported that Pertamina?s net profit last year reached only $2 billion, lower than the initial target of $3.44 billion due partly to the drop in oil price.
Arief, however, said that the figure is not yet final, saying that the final result is expected later this month. (*)