Petroleum Developments in Far East in 1958

Abstract

During 1958 there has been little change in the political atmosphere and in petroleum developments from conditions as they existed in the Far East during 1957. Only in Communist China do persistent reports indicate important new discoveries of crude oil and appreciable increase in annual production from proven fields. Japan also has increased its production by 800 b/d, which represents an increase of 13% in Japanese indigenous crude-oil production. A rise in the daily average production in Indonesia has been almost offset by a decline in the oil production of British Borneo. A discovery of gas in the Cagayan Valley of Northern Luzon, in the Philippine Islands, may have to be classed as non-commercial because of quantity and remoteness of location. Gas discoveries in Papua must also be classed as non-commercial for the same reasons. The small but encouraging discovery of oil in Puri No. 1, in Papua, remains to be evaluated.