VP Asks Operator To Increase Cepu Oil Field Production

Bojonegoro, E Java (Antara Bali) - Vice President Jusuf Kalla has asked ExxonMobil Cepu Limited (EMCL) to raise production of the oil field Cepu Block in East Java from 165 thousand barrels to 205 thousand barrels per day.

"Based on the report I received, the oil production of Cepu Block now reaches an average of 130 thousand barrels per day and will reach its peak at 165 thousand barrels per day in March," the vice president said after a meeting with East Java Deputy Governor Syaifullah Yusuf, EMCL and Bojonegoaro District Head Suyoto on Saturday.

Kalla said the production can even be increased to 205 thousand barrels per day. "The Cepu oil Block is able to contribute 20 percent to the national oil supplies. Now the average national oil production is 800 thousand barrels per day," he said.

Based on the EMCL report, the Cepu oil Block in Gayam District, East Java, could be raised in stages. Now its production is 130 thousand barrels per day and will reach 165 thousand barrels during the production peak.

The Cepu oil block has 45 wells in three fields, 12 of the wells are gas and water injection wells.

The production is channeled through a 76-kilometer pipe-network to a storage of  Gagak Rimang ship tanks in Palang Tuban sea.

According to Bojonegoro District Head Suyoto, the vice president has asked EMCL to increase the production to about 205 barrels per day.

"The vice president has asked the oil operator to increase the oil field production because the state still needs big volumes of oil," Suyoto said on Saturday.

He said that Kalla observed the oil field to see preparations for the production peak of Banyu Urip's Cepu Block in Gayam Subdistrict. (WDY)