Startup of Banyu Urip project to come onstream soon

By Febry Silaban

The Banyu Urip complete project in the Cepu block is scheduled to start up late this month or early next month, six months later than the initial schedule of June, according to an official of upstream authority SKK Migas.

?The Banyu Urip (complete) project is now scheduled to start up in late November or early December with a production of 165,000 bopd,? SKK Migas Head of Public Relations Elan Biantoro told Petromindo.com, adding that the field is now producing around 80,000 bopd.

He said that Banyu Urip?s startup has been postponed due to constraints in the development of Central Processing Facility which is part of the Engineering, Procurement and Construction-1 (EPC-1) works.

Meanwhile, the country's oil production now stands at 790,000 bopd, still below the government's 2015 target of 825,000 bopd, according to Elan.

"The reason is mainly because the Banyu Urip project has not come onstream on time," he said.

The Cepu block located in the border areas of Central Java and East Java is one of the prime oil and gas projects expected to come onstream this year. The block is jointly operated by ExxonMobil Cepu Ltd (EMCL) and PT Pertamina EP Cepu (PEPC).

Editing by Johannes Simbolon