Indonesia to develop oil fields in Ecuador

JAKARTA, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Indonesia's state oil and gas firm Pertamina will spend $50 million to explore and develop existing oil fields in Ecuador, a company official said on Monday.

Pertamina's president director, Ari Soemarno, told reporters Petroecuador and Pertamina have agreed to develop the Lago Agrio, Guanta and Dureno fields.

"These fields are still producing oil, but in a small amount. Pertamina may have exploration at those fields and if it produces good results, then we will develop them," Soemarno said.

A Petroecuador official told reporters Ecuador was offering Pertamina one field for exploration and the one for development but did not elaborate.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and visiting Ecuador President Rafael Correa witnessed the signing of an implementation agreement on the projects.

Pertamina has been increasingly casting its eyes overseas and also has concessions in Iraq and Libya, as well as agreements to cooperate in Vietnam and Malaysia.

Indonesia and Ecuador are members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), but production from both nations is small compared with other members.

Ecuador produces about 500,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd), of which nearly half is pumped out by private firms.

Indonesia, Asia-Pacific's only OPEC member, has been struggling to maintain output as the country has failed to tap new oil fields fast enough.

Indonesia's crude oil production in November is expected to be 823,000 barrels per day (bpd), down from 825,300 bpd in October, an official at the country's energy watchdog said. (Reporting by Muklis Ali, editing by Ed Davies, Valerie Lee)