Oil Production Plummets Because of Bad Weather
18 February 2014 12:30 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Special Task Force (SKK Migas) caretaker Johanes Widjonarko, said that the national oil production target was not reached due to floods and heavy rain in a number of regions in the last two months.
Johanes added that other factors include lower than expected output from Exxon Mobil's Cepu block, which was projected to contribute 165,000 barrels per day, and declining production from depleted wells.
But Johanes was confident that the state will attain the target of US$30.6 billion revenue from the oil and gas sector despite SKK Migas' prediction that the oil and gas revenue would only reach US$27.1 billion.
While the production declined, Johanes predicted that the cost recovery would increase to US$19.1 billion, which is higher than US$15 billion target set in the state budget.
According to ReforMiner Institute analyst Komaidi Notonegoro, the unattained production target was because the government had no long term plan to open new oil wells. Komaidi added that although weather did affect the exploration effectiveness, it was not the major factor contributing to the failure of the production target realization.
FAIZ NASHRILLAH | ANANDA TERESIA
