JAKARTA, Nov 08, 2007 (AsiaPulse via COMTEX) -- MRLS | charts | news | PowerRating -- Indonesia's oil and gas receipts in 2007 are expected to exceed Rp180 trillion (US$19.8 billion), well above the government-set target of Rp150 trillion, a minister said.

"The current surge in global crude prices will contribute to the higher-than projected state revenues," Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said here Wednesday.

While the country's oil and condesate production in 2007 was 97 per cent below the target set in the state budget, in terms of prices, production was 115 per cent above the target, he said.

Since 2000 oil and gas revenues had always exceeded the government-set target, he said.

Because of the surging global crude prices, the fuel subsidy in 2007 was expected to soar to Rp90 trillion, well above the targeted Rp62 trillion, he said.

In 2006, the fuel subsidy stood at Rp60 trillion, falling short of the targeted Rp64 trillion, he said.

He said Indonesia's crude oil prices in 2007 would range between US$71 and US$73 a barrel.

The government had set the average crude oil price in the revised 2007 state budget at US$60 a barrel.

(ANTARA)