Total oil lifting likely below target

The country's average daily oil production would most likely fall below the target set in the government's 2007 revised budget due to the decline in the production of several major oil wells, Kompas reported Wednesday.

Kardaya Warnika, the head of BPMIGAS, the regulatory body for oil and gas exploration and production, said in Jakarta Monday that the average oil production totaled only 960,000 barrels per day (bpd) during the January to October period.

"To calculate lifting, we have to subtract the volume of production from the volume of oil for own use that reached 50,000 bpd. Lifting target on the 2007 revised state budget is 950,000 bpd," he said.

He said a number of major oil wells including those operated by ConocoPhillips and Pertamina fell significantly during the January-February period.

ConocoPhillips' production, for example, dropped by about 20,000 barrels from its normal production of 40,000 barrels per day. Meanwhile Pertamina's new Pondok Tengah oil field in Bekasi produced only about 4,000 barrels per day, far from the initial target of 16,000 barrels per day.

"The same condition also took place in the oil fields operated by the joint operation body of PT Bumi Siak Pusako and Pertamina in Riau," he added. (*)