Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The state oil and gas company Pertamina has forecast an increase of 9 percent in its oil and gas production target for the next year as compared to its projected target for 2014.

The increase in production will come from the operation of new fields, the optimization of existing fields, and the acquisition of new fields, Pertamina President Director Muhammad Husein stated here on Monday.

"We are all prepared to achieve the 2015 target," he emphasized.

Recently, Pertamina acquired a 30 percent stake in Murphy Sabah Oil Co. Ltd. and Murphy Sarawak Oil Co. Ltd., both of which are the subsidiaries of US Murphy Oil Corporation.

Husein pointed out that Pertamina will lay greater emphasis on finding oil and gas.

According to the oil and gas production target set for 2025, the acquisition of oil and gas fields will contribute significantly to the production, he noted.

He remarked that Pertamina has projected its annual production target to increase by 20 thousand to 30 thousand barrels per day through the acquisition of new oil fields.

"These all depend on our financial capability," he added.

Pertamina has set the oil and gas production target for 2014 at around 550 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day comprising 280 thousand barrels of oil and 270 thousand barrels of gas (1,568 million standard cubic feet per day/MMSCFD).

Until October, Pertaminas oil and gas production was recorded at 540 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day, which is the highest in Indonesia.

The company saw a 11.9 percent increase in oil and gas production to reach 520,360 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the first half of 2014 as compared to the same period last year.

Pertamina has forecast its oil and gas production to increase to 2.2 million barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2025.

(Reported by Kelik Dewanto/Uu.INE/KR-BSR/O001)

Editor: Priyambodo RH
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