Rabby Pramudatama, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Business | Thu, August 02 2012, 9:54 AM

Paper Edition | Page: 13

PT Chevron Pacific Indonesia (CPI) would start drilling in 250 to 350 locations during the second half of this year to further increase oil production in the company’s oil concession areas in Riau province, the company’s spokesman said.

“We are committed to improving our oil and natural gas production in Indonesia,” Chevron’s spokesman, Donny Indrawan, told reporters during a breaking of the fast gathering in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Donny claimed the company’s current production had soared above the government’s target. However, he refused to divulge a specific figure. “As of the first half of this year, I can say that our production is strong and above target.”

Gde Pradnyana, operations deputy at upstream oil and gas regulator BPMigas, said that Chevron produced 346,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd), slightly above the target of 340,000 bopd, which was set in its work plan and budget (WPnB).

However, the production was still below target if referring to the figure set in the 2012 state budget, of 355,000 bopd, he told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

Gde added that Chevron’s production levels had not yet returned to normal after the Duri pipe leak in 2010.

Operations at several Chevron wells in the Duri field were temporarily halted when the pipe, owned by PT Transportasi Gas Indonesia (TGI), which channels gas to a Chevron power plant, began leaking.

The incident cost the country around 150,000 bopd. However, Gde added, “this year’s production was still rated as good, with a decline rate of between 1 and 3 percent.”

Last year, Chevron produced a total of 356,606 bopd. The company, which is the largest crude oil producer in Indonesia, derives most of its oil from Sumatra, primarily from the Rokan oil block in Riau province.