Indonesia aims to reach annual target with shorter Banyu Urip oilfield shutdown

[JAKARTA] Indonesia will shorten a planned shutdown at its Banyu Urip field and accelerate drilling at the Rokan block in a bid to reach its target for oil and gas lifting this year, the country's upstream regulator SKK Migas said on Monday.

These are among the several measures SKK Migas said it would do in the remainder of 2020, aimed at increasing average crude oil lifting for the year by 3,900 barrels per day (bpd) and gas by 70 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd).

The Banyu Urip field, operated by a unit of Exxon Mobil , is situated in Cepu, the biggest oil-producing block in Indonesia.

The shutdown, scheduled for this month, will be trimmed to nine days, spokeswoman of SKK Migas Susana Kurniasih said in a statement, noting that the field produced 228,000 bpd as of Aug 12. However, she did not specify the duration of the initially planned shutdown.

The regulator is also ramping up talks with a Chevron unit for an agreement about drilling of 11 wells at the Rokan block in the fourth quarter.

Rokan, the country's second-biggest crude oil-producing block, is currently operated by Chevron Pacific Indonesia, but will be transferred to state oil and gas company Pertamina by next August.

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An SKK Migas official previously said Chevron is expected to drill 107 wells before its contract ends, 11 of which in November and December, but pending negotiations with the regulator.

Official data showed Indonesia's national crude oil lifting in January-August was 706,900 bpd, above the government's revised target of 705,000 bpd for 2020, but slowing from the year's first half, while its gas lifting in the same period was 5,516 mmscfd, below this year's revised target of 5,556 mmscfd.

REUTERS