Pertamina's Oil, Gas Production Up Slightly

Jakarta, July 11 (Antara) - State oil and gas firm Pertamina said its oil and gas production in the first half of 2013 reached 464,820 barrels of oil equivalent per day, up slightly from 462,000 a year earlier. "There has been a slight increase but it still falls short of the target of 515,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day for this year," Pertamina upstream director M Husen said here on Thursday. He attributed the lower-than-targeted production to a number of classic obstacles including land clearance and licensing. In addition, technical problems including the belated completion of pipeline projects also had disrupted production, he said. "So there are internal and external factors," he said. After all, he remained optimistic that the oil and gas production this year would reach the target of 515,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. The production target excluded extra production the company would obtain from its planned acquisition of a number of oil and gas blocks, he said. "We hope some of the blocks can be acquired this year," he said. Pertamina has set itself a target of acquiring five oil and gas blocks abroad in 2013. The five blocks have a minimum production level of 20,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.