Riau Petroleum plans to develop Lirik oil block

Riau Petroleum, an oil company owned by the provincial administration of Riau, plans to operate some old oils wells in the province including those located in the Lirik oil block which have been left by state owned company Pertamina, Kompas reported on Monday.

The newly established company expected to begin its operation early next year, the company?s director Tengku Amir Sulaiman said in Pekanbaru on Saturday. He added that the company had received a green light from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources to develop the old oil wells which have been left for a long time by their operators but are still potential enough for further exploration.

According to Sulaiman, the Lirik oil block has six oil wells, two of which are currently operated by Lirik Petroleum. Pertamina has promised to transfer the operation of the other four oil wells to Riau Petroleum, he added.

Each of oil wells are expected to be able to produce about 1,000 barrels of crude oil per day, he said, adding that Riau Petroleum would also develop and explore untapped areas in the oil block in order to increase the production. (*)