OPEC’s Indonesia Eyes 42% Oil Output Boost 2017

Amid rising doubts about OPEC’s crude oil production freeze agreement, one member of the organization that’s so far stayed out of the spotlight has declared its plans to raise oil output by 42 percent in 2017. A spokeswoman for Indonesia’s state-owned oil firm Pertamina said that the company seeks to raise its total output to 438,000 bpd next year, up from an average of 308,000 bpd in 2016.

Wianda Pusponegoro added that most of the increase will come from acquisitions in Russia, Iran, and Iraq. Indonesia’s own oil deposits are on the whole mature, with peak production well behind them.

Earlier this month, media reported that Pertamina and Rosneft had sealed a deal for the construction of a refinery in Indonesia, which may also include Pertamina buying into Russian production projects. According to Rosneft, the Indonesian company could get up to 20 percent in the Northern Chayvo field off Russia’s Pacific coast, as well as a maximum of 37.5 percent in the Yuzhno-Russkoye field in Western Siberia.

The Northern part of the Chayvo deposit contains an estimated 110 million barrels of crude and condensate, and 13 billion cubic meter of natural gas. Yuzhno-Russkoye is one of Russia’s largest hydrocarbon deposits, holding an estimated 149 million barrels of crude and over a trillion cubic meters of gas.

Pertamina is also interested in producing assets in Iran that hold combined reserves in excess of 5 million barrels of crude. The company is already engaged in feasibility studies at two of these fields, whose combined daily production is 74,500 barrels of oil.

In Iraq, Pertamina already operates oilfields producing 43,700 barrels daily, making the country its biggest overseas production asset. The company also has assets in Malaysia and Algeria, and according to earlier announcements, was planning to expand into Saudi Arabia, Gabon, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan.

Although a small member of OPEC (after returning to the group just last year), Indonesia has major ambitions in oil production as its local demand is far above production; the former averages 850,000 bpd, while the latter hovers around 1.6 million bpd, according to data cited by Reuters.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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