TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry said that this year's oil and gas lifting volume will only reach 2 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd). Oil lifting volume will only be only 800,000 barrels per day (bpd), lower than last year's target of 815,000 bpd.
Deputy Energy Minister Arcandra Tahar said the decline is due to disruptions in drilling facilities, declining performances of old oil wells, and the drilling commitments that contractors failed to meet.
The Special Task Force for the Upstream Oil and Gas Business Activities (SKK Migas) spokesman Wisnu Pribawa Taher said the lowered target is also based on the declining rate of production—lower than the government's assumption.
"Some fields even have [declining rates] of 20-25 percent, which is normal considering they are mostly old wells," he said.
Another problem hampering efforts to increase lifting volume is the sluggish exploration activities due to declining oil prices since 2014.
Nevertheless, Wisnu remains confident that this year's lifting will meet the targeted volume as there are four oil projects that are entering peak production periods. The projects are BD Field at the Madura Strait Block, Bukit Tua field in Ketapang block, Bambu Besar field owned by Pertamina EP, and Jangkrik field in Muara Bakau Block.
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