JAKARTA, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- The investment in the oil and gas sector in Indonesia underperformed during the first half of this year, but the bounce back in the global oil price was expected to lure investors in the sector.
Indonesian Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry on Wednesday said that the investment in the oil and gas sector settled at 5.6 billion U.S. dollars from January to June.
"That is still far from the target, as it is only one third of the expectation," said Ego Syahrial, acting director general for oil and gas of the ministry.
According to the official, the ministry had set a target of 14.5 billion U.S. dollars investment in the sector this year.
However, he said, the global oil price which touched its bottom of 20 U.S. dollars per barrel in March crept up as of late, reaching 40 U.S. dollars per barrel in June.
The official added that the ministry would maintain the conducive climate of the investment in the upstream sector, such as avoiding shutdown of wells.
Indonesia revised down oil and gas lifting (ready for sale) target this year to 725,000 barrels per day (bpd) and 5,727 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) respectively, as the novel coronavirus pandemic has disrupted production amid tumbling global prices, according to Indonesian Oil and Gas Upstream Regulator (SKK Migas).
The oil production in Indonesia has been dwindling in recent years due to aging wells and weak fresh investment for exploration, making the country a net-oil importer, according to SKK Migas.
Latest comments