Gas Lifting Volume on Track

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – The Special Task Force for Upstream Oil and Gas (SKK Migas) said that the national gas lifting volume is inches away from the target set in the 2014 State Budget Amendment. As of October 31, 2014, gas production has reached 7,085 billion billion British thermal units per day (BBTUD), just shy of the 7.099-BBUTD target.

"At the end of October, gas lifting has reached 99.8 percent of the target set in the Amended State Budget. We hope we can keep this up all the way until the year-end," SKK Migas acting chief Johanes Widjonarko spoke in yesterday's press conference in Jakarta.

SKK noted five production sharing contract (PSC) contractors that contributed the most for Indonesia's total gas lifting. They are Total E&P Indonesie, ConocoPhillips (Grissik) Ltd, PT Pertamina EP, BP Berau Ltd, and PetroChina International Jabung Ltd. "They contributed more than 75 percent of the total gas lifting," Widjonarko said.

The high volume of gas output has given a bright hope amid Indonesia's declining oil reserves and production. Therefore, the demand for gas to meet the domestic need continues to increase.

According to SKK Migas, the volume of gas use for domestic need increased from 1,480 BBTIUD in 2003 to 3,774 BBTUD in 2013, a 155-percent in a decade span.

Carmelita Hartoto, deputy chair of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin), said that an adequate gas supply has a positive impact on the business world, especially the industrial sector. She said that investors are at ease when the domestic energy supply improves. "It will increase investors' trust as well," she told Tempo yesterday.

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