Hess to drill exploration well in Papua next yr - govt

JAKARTA Aug 11 (Reuters) - U.S. firm Hess Corp (HES.N) will drill at least one exploration well in Papua next year, an official at Indonesia's mines and energy ministry said on Tuesday.

Indonesia has awarded Semai V, an offshore block west of Papua province last year.

"We hope Hess will success to find oil or gas there," Edy Hermantoro, director of upstream activities at the energy ministry told reporters.

Hess officials could not be reached for comment.

Indonesia has turned into a net importer of crude oil in recent years as production slumps due to a failure to tap new fields fast enough.

The country has been offering new exploration rights and financial incentives for oil fields to stem a steady decline in production.

Indonesia's oil watchdog, BPMIGAS, has put the country's proven oil reserves at 3.74 billion barrels and potential reserves at 4.47 billion barrels.

Indonesia crude production slipped to 826,600 barrels per day (bpd) in July from 829,200 bpd in June. (Reporting by Muklis Ali; Editing by Anshuman Daga)