Pertamina to increase Pondok Tengah oil field?s output

PT Pertamina EP, an upstream arm of state owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina, said that it is expected that the production can reach 12,000 barrels of oil per day in 2007 from 3,000 barrels of oil per day in 2006 at Pondok Tengah oil field in Bekasi, West Java, Investor Daily reported Thursday.

Pertamina EP also said that the company has found significant quantity of new oil reserves from the field.

?We have just found oil reserves that are more than our expectations at Pondok Tengah,? Pertamina EP?s president director Kun Kurnely told reporters in Jakarta. But he didn?t give further detail.

Pertamina EP is expecting that its production would reach its peak of 26,000 barrels oil per day from the earlier expectation level of 16,000 barrels per day.

These additional reserves, Kun said, were found at the Talang Akar Formation (TAF). Pertamina EP?s present oil production comes from Batu Raja Formation (BRF).

?Based on the study, we have found that there are indeed oil reserves at the TAF, which are located much deeper than the BRF,? Kun said. (*)