Indonesia Will See 15 New Oil, Gas Fields On Stream in 2012

The year 2012 is expected to see at least 15 oil and gas projects come onstream in Indonesia to cope up with declining output, country’s energy regulator BPMigas said Sunday.

The projects are expected to produce a total of 1.15 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) of gas and 32,200 barrels of oil per day (bpd).

Indonesia's current annual average gas output is 400 million cubic of gas while it produces 15,000 barrel of oil per day.

In January 2012, Indonesia's gas reserves are estimated at 104.5 trillion standard cubic feet of gas compared with 104.7 trillion cubic feet of gas in the same period in 2011.

Among the 15 projects, the project at the South Mahakam 1 and 2 fields in the Mahakam block in East Kalimantan will start in the fourth quarter of 2012. The projects, operated by France's Total , are predicted to contribute 250 mmscfd of gas and 20,600 bpd of oil.

Indonesia, a former OPEC member, has been struggling with declining oil output from ageing fields and rising demand for gas, which is limiting its gas export potential.