Total spends $2 billion to further increase gas production

PT Total E&P Indonesie has allocated about US$2 billion in new investment to finance new exploration activities at the company?s oil block in East Kalimantan, Kontan business daily reported.

Total's President Director Elisabeth Proust said last week the new exploration activities would be needed to increase gas production at the Mahakam block, which produced about 2.2 billion cubic feet last year.

About 82 percent of the gas production is supplied to the Botang LNG plant, also located in East Kalimantan.

?Most of the new investments are used to finance exploration activities in Tunu and Pechiko fields,? Elisabeth said, adding that the company had so far drilled 1,518 exploration wells and 840 production wells.

Last year, with the use of nine rigs, the company drilled a total of 128 wells.

Elisabeth said that besides finding new gas reserves, Total was working on a program to limit the drop in gas production due to natural depletion. In 2011, Total managed to limit the drop in production due to natural depletion to 3 percent from 10 percent.

Elisabeth said that Total had also proposed to the government to continue to operate the oil block after the current contract ended in 2017. ?We have invested a lot in the last 20 years, and we will cooperate with Pertamina [in next contract). Hopefully, this year we get the approval,? Elisabeth said. (*)