Oil Lifting Only 660 Thousand BOPD, Government Boosts Indonesian Gas Production

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Domestic crude production this year has only reached 604,000 barrels of oil per day (BOPD) from the target set at 660 thousand BOPD.

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Arifin Tasrif admitted that this target would not be achieved this year. For this reason, his party will boost natural gas lifting in 2024.

"The oil does not (achieve the target). The gas is God willing. Next year, we will encourage more gas," said Arifin, quoted on Monday, December 11.

Arifin emphasized that even if they rely on gas, gas production cannot be pushed every year but must also be supported by massive exploration activities to find giant gas reserves.

"But oil and gas can't be done every year, for example, we encourage ENI to push 2028, now we are looking for big ones first," continued Arifin.

For this reason, he said, the government is currently optimizing marginal wells. Arifin said, even though he relied on the well, it would not have a significant effect on the achievement of national oil lifting.

Just so you know, the IOGCC defines a marginal well as a well that produces 10 barrels of oil or 60 Mcf of natural gas per day or less.

"We haven't explored for a long time. Only now do we explore big ones. There are Andaman 1, Andaman 2, Andaman 3. We have also found Andaman 3 Mubadala," he said.

The Special Task Force for Upstream Oil and Gas Business Activities (SKK Migas) reported its performance in the third quarter of 2023 to Commission VII DPR RI.

Head of SKK Migas, Dwi Soetjipto reported, until October 31, 2023, the realization of oil lifting was at the level of 604.3 barrels of oil per day (BOPD) or 91.6 percent of the target set in the APBN of 660,000 BOPD.

Meanwhile, the realization of the gas channel until October 2023 has only reached 5,353 million cubic feet per day (MMSCFD) or 86.9 percent of the target set in the APBN of 6,160 MMSCFD. SKK Migas projects that the gas line will reach 5,400 MMSCFD or 87.7 percent of the APBN target in December 2023.