Indonesian state oil company Pertamina has boosted its exploration and production spending by more than $80 million for the coming year, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries� news agency, OPECNA, reported Friday.
The move will take E&P investment to $189 million and launch a 5-year program to double the company�s oil production capability to 425,000 b/d.
Current output at Pertamina, expected to become independent next year, is 210,000 boe/d from reserves of 1.4 billion boe and 2.6 tcf of gas.
E&P Director Gatot Wiroyudo said Pertamina would have to �match� international oil companies, which had at least 25 years of reserves, to produce 200,000 b/d of oil.
He said Pertamina had signed a memorandum of understanding with Petronas, the Malaysian national oil company, and PetroVietnam, the Vietnamese state company, to jointly explore blocks �in their respective countries and overseas.�
He said, �The chances of finding new oil together is better than doing it alone.
Wiroyudo said Indonesia�s production is 1.26 million b/d, more than 100,000 b/d under its OPEC quota, due to the �continuing social disturbances [that] were limiting new developments� in the country.
