Indonesia's upstream oil and gas regulator, SKK Migas, approved development plans for 18 oil and gas projects from January to April, with a total investment of $1.496 billion, it said in a statement on Sunday.

SKK Migas estimated the cumulative oil and condensate production from the 18 projects to be 45 million barrels, while the natural gas production is estimated at 271 billion cubic feet.

The projects are projected to start between 2016 to 2020, the statement said.

Most of the projects approved are operated by Chevron Pacific Indonesia, the local unit of U.S. oil and gas firm Chevron Corp.

(Reporting by Wilda Asmarini; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)