Bahlil Asked To Maximize Upstream Oil And Gas Investment And Technology

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Mineral and Coal Energy Suppliers Association (Aspebindo) expects the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Bahlil Lahadalia, who previously served as Minister of Investment, to maximize domestic potential by accelerating investment and developing technology in the upstream oil and gas sector.

Investment and upstream oil and gas technology are important to increase oil and gas lifting to meet the targets in the 2024 APBN and 2025 RAPBN.

"The trick is to maximize potential in Indonesia by accelerating investment and developing technology in the upstream sector. Minister Bahlil understands this matter, especially before becoming Minister of Investment," said Deputy Chairperson of Aspebindo Fathul Nugroho, quoted by ANTARA, Wednesday, August 21.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has appointed Bahlil Lahadalia as Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources to replace Arifin Tasrif on Monday, August 19.

During the handover of the position of Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Bahlil emphasized that he would focus on increasing oil and gas lifting in the remaining working period of two months or until October 2024.

The increase in oil lifting is a direct order from President Joko Widodo and President-elect Prabowo Subianto.

As data from the 2025 State Budget Bill submitted by the government in the DPR plenary session on August 16, 2024, oil lifting is targeted to reach 600 thousand barrels per day and natural gas reaches 1.005 million barrels of oil equivalent per day next year.

Meanwhile, in the 2024 State Budget, the government targets oil and gas lifting of 635 thousand barrels per day and natural gas lifting of 1.33 million oil equivalents per day.

According to Fathu, Bahlil can lift oil and natural gas, by adjusting regulations or accelerating investment in the upstream sector to boost domestic crude production.

" Bahlil's experience as an entrepreneur and government makes everything easy. Moreover, he is indeed a field person, so he will continue to monitor technically," he said.

He said the government could follow the way other countries have demographics similar to Indonesia, such as Brazil. The oil lifting in Samba Country reaches three million barrels per day.

In addition to the matter of oil and gas (oil and gas), Fathul also encouraged Bahlil to further promote downstreaming in the mineral and coal (minerba) sector.

"Moreover, Bahlil has also invited the President-elect Prabowo Subianto, so I am sure that the downstream program will be more stretched than before," he said.

On the other hand, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources together with PT PLN also have challenges in managing excess electricity supply as a result of the 35 thousand megawatt (MW) program. This advantage can be utilized to intensify downstreaming.

"This excess needs to be seen not as a burden. In fact, it is a good opportunity to support downstreaming policies. The government and PLN can strategically take advantage of this excess capacity to encourage industrial development in key areas. Preferential tariff policies and dynamical prices (dynamic pricing) for industrial users in the KEK zone can make electricity prices more efficient," said Fathul, who is also the Executive Director of the Institute for Policy, Energy, and Economics (Inspec).