The company has received the approval from Indonesia’s oil and gas regulator Satuan Kerja Khusus Pelaksana Kegiatan Usaha Hulu Minyak dan Gas Bumi (SKK Migas)
Pertamina headquarters in Jakarta. (Credit: NaidNdeso/Wikipedia)
Indonesian state-owned oil and natural gas company Pertamina has reportedly received approval for the Rp35tr ($2.41bn) investment plan to expand the Rokan oil block.
Pertamina has received the approval from the country’s oil and gas regulator Satuan Kerja Khusus Pelaksana Kegiatan Usaha Hulu Minyak dan Gas Bumi (SKK Migas).
With the approval, Pertamina is allowed to commence a second phase of development at its Rokan block, which includes a plan to drill 821 new wells and other facility upgrades.
SKK Migas chairman Dwi Soetjipto told Reuters: “Rokan block is still a backbone of national oil production with an average production of around 160,000 barrels per day currently.
“We hope that with the approval of (the development), Pertamina Hulu Rokan can achieve its production target of 180,000 bpd this year.”
In August last year, through its upstream subsidiary PT Pertamina Hulu Rokan (PHR), Pertamina has took over Rokan from US-based oil and gas company Chevron.
The takeover follows the expiry of contract held by Chevron Pacific Indonesia, which held 100% stake in the Rokan Production Sharing Contract (PSC) for more than 96 years.
The company targets to increase the production capacity of Rokan block to 165,000 barrels of oil per day by the end of this year
It has planned to drill 161 new wells in the block, between August and December last year, to increase the block’s production.
Rokan is said to be Indonesia’s second-biggest crude oil producing block, with a production 160,500 barrels per day and 41 million cubic feet of natural gas per day at the end of July.