Exxon's Cepu Production May Exceed Capacity

Crude output from Exxon Mobil Corp's Cepu block may exceed its capacity of 220,000 barrels per day (bpd) this year, to reach 235,000 bpd, upstream oil and gas regulator SKK Migas told reporters on Thursday.

Potential reserves at the block are bigger than initially estimated after a reevaluation and Exxon is currently conducting a test until November, said Fatar Yani Abdurrahman, deputy of operations at SKK Migas.

"As requested by SKK Migas, we are conducting high rate test to see the ability of our facility and wells to increase production, while focusing on safety and reliability of the operation," Azi Alam, vice president of public and government affairs at ExxonMobil Indonesia, told Reuters.

There had been no additional "environmental and socio-economic impact" from the test so far, Alam said.

Exxon targets to produce 216,000 bpd of crude from the Cepu block in the current fiscal year, SKK Migas data showed.

(Reporting by Wilda Asmarini; writing by Gayatri Suroyo; editing by Christian Schmollinger)