Exxon starts new work in Indonesia

IRVING, Texas, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- ExxonMobil said it started operations at an onshore processing facility that will help boost oil production in Indonesia, the newest member of OPEC.

Exxon started operations for a processing facility servicing the onshore Banyu Urip field in Indonesia, which should help increase production to more than 130,000 barrels of oil per day. Once in full service, the field will produce 450 million barrels of oil over its lifetime.

"Banyu Urip is helping drive economic growth in Indonesia and has led to the training and employment of thousands of Indonesians," Neil Duffin, president of ExxonMobil Development Co., said in a statement.

Indonesia was welcomed back as a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries during an early December meeting of the production group in Vienna. Indonesia left OPEC in 2009 because it was no longer a net exporter.

Jakarta said it needs to work with members of OPEC in order to get a direct source of crude oil and natural gas.

Analysis from the U.S. Energy Information Administration finds Indonesia produces about 790,000 barrels of crude oil and condensates, an ultra-light form of oil. That puts it above Ecuador and Libya, the two lowest producing members of OPEC. The Indonesian government estimated that as of Jan. 1 it held 5.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent, about half of which existed as crude oil.