Iin Arifin Takhyan, oil and gas director general at the Ministry of Mines and Energy, said the incentives – which allow the companies to claim another 20% of incurred costs in addition to the 100% currently allowed - were expected to bring an additional 50,000 barrels of oil per day onstream.

But the incentives were only applicable if the rate of return on the fields dropped below 15%.

The companies are: PT Bumi Siak Pusako-Pertamina (which has three fields), PT Energi Mega Persada (two fields) and its subsidiary Kondur Petroleum SA (five fields), PT Medco Energi Internasional (two fields), China's CNOOC (six fields), BP (nine fields) and fellow Briton Premier Oil Plc (one field), PT Caltex Pacific Indonesia (two fields).

Indonesia, Asia’s only OPEC member, is struggling to meet its current quota of 1.43 bopd as most of its fields mature.