Pertamina aims to drill 300 wells this year

PERTAMINA - JAKARTA. State-owned energy holding company Pertamina aims to drill 300 wells this year in a bid to jack up its oil and gas production to an average of 928,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd).

The company plans to drill 120 wells in its newly acquired Mahakam Block in East Kalimantan, on which production has been declining, Pertamina upstream director Dharmawan Samsu told the press in Jakarta on Monday.

“There isn’t another way [to increase production] except to conduct aggressive drilling,” Dharmawan said, adding that about 40 wells would be created in the Sanga-Sanga Block.

Pertamina, which is represented by its subsidiary Pertamina Hulu Sanga-Sanga (PHSS), took over the block on Aug. 8 from a United States oil and gas firm, the Virginia Indonesia Company (VICO), which had operated the block for more than four decades.

Oil exploration is crucial as Indonesia only has proven oil reserves of about 3.2 billion barrels, 0.2 percent of the world’s proven reserves.

Indonesia has been an oil importer since at least 2004 and currently the country consumes about 1.5 million barrels of oil, half of which is produced domestically.

Dharmawan said the target of 928,000 boepd would be hit mainly through its gas production, which is aimed to be 514,000 boepd.

Apart from drilling, Pertamina also plans to boost the production of existing wells through enhanced oil recovery (EOR) by pumping water, carbon dioxide, or other chemical substances, Dharmawan said, adding that the company also planned to acquire mature oil and gas fields in other countries.

“In other countries, we are not interested in exploration blocks, but we only seek mature assets.” he said.