UPDATE:Chevron Indonesia:2009-10 Oil Output Targets Difficult

PT Chevron Pacific Indonesia's oil output is currently 8,000 barrels a day lower than its daily target for this year, and the company may miss its output target for next year, Suwito Anggoro, the director of the Chevron Corp. (CVX) unit, said Monday.

"It will be very difficult for us to reach the (2010) production target as we are having difficulty securing gas (needed) to extract the oil," said Anggoro.

Chevron's daily oil output from its Indonesian operations is currently 372,000 barrels a day, whereas its target for this year is an average of 380,000 barrels a day, he said. However, he said output had been higher earlier in the year.

Next year, the company is targeting average oil production of 370,000 barrels a day, Anggoro said.

Anggoro said the amount of natural gas supplied to Chevron by ConocoPhillips (COP) has fallen as the gas has been diverted to other buyers such as PT Perusahaan Gas Negara (PGAS.JK), the state gas monopoly. He didn't elaborate further.

Chevron earlier this month signed a $2.5 billion deal with ConocoPhillips to buy gas on Sumatra island for 13 years. Upstream oil and gas regulator BPMigas said the deal formalized an arrangement in place since January, under which ConocoPhillips had been supplying between 380 billion and 450 billion British thermal units of gas a day to Chevron.

Chevron uses natural gas to extract thick crude oil from wells at its Duri field on Sumatra island, a process known as steamflooding.

-By Deden Sudrajat, contributing to Dow Jones Newswires; 62 21 3983 1277; [e-mail]