Indonesia expects an increase in oil and gas investment this year after approving as many as 274 work plans and budgets from contractors.
Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik said in Jakarta on Tuesday that investment for 2013 of US$26.2 billion was anticipated.
"We want all contractors in the country to implement their program as specified in their plans so that our target for oil and gas output and state revenue can be achieved,” he said.
Jero, head of the interim upstream regulatory task force SKMigas, officially approved the 274 work plan and budgets in December last year and, on Tuesday, handed them over at the task force's headquarters in Jakarta.
Of the 274 oil and gas contractors, 74 are in the production phase such as France-based Total E&P Indonesia in the Mahakam block in East Kalimantan.
The total investment for these 74 contractors is around $23.5 billion. They plan to drill 1,200 developing wells, 1,100 work-over wells and 100 exploration wells.
Meanwhile, the 200 contractors still on the exploration phase will invest $2.7 billion this year, to drill 75 exploration wells and over 80 coal bed methane (CBM) gas exploration wells.
For 2013, oil output should reach 900,000 barrels per day of crude oil and 1.36 million of barrels oil equivalent per day (BOE/D) of gas.
By Amahl S. Azwar, The Jakarta Post