PHE to start Sarawak crude production end of June

PT Pertamina Hulu Energi (PHE), the subsidiary of state owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina, will start production at SK 305 block offshore Sarawak, Malaysia by end of this June, a company official said on Tuesday.

PHE's spokesman Ali Mundakir said the block would produce crude at initial rate of 6,000 barrel per day (BPD). ?We?re currently preparing for the inauguration of the first production at the block,? he said.

PHE earlier said that the block would produce crude in the end of 2009 at an initial rate of 7,000 BPD. A Pertamina official said production from the block would peak at 20,000 BPD in 2011.

The block is operated under the Joint Operating Company (JOC) scheme, where Petronas has a 40 percent stake, while Pertamina and PetroVietnam have a 30 percent stake each.

Block SK305 is located in water depth of 150 metres in Balingian, offshore Sarawak, covering an area of about 16,400 sq kilometres. (godang)