InkUD Collaborates With Foreign Oil And Gas Exploration Company With Investment Value Of 30 Million US Dollars

JAKARTA - The parent of the Village Unit Cooperative (InkUD) has officially established strategic cooperation with foreign companies in the oil and gas sector (oil and gas) through the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with PT Ellips Group (Uzbekistan) and the Hong Kong Engineering Co. Ltd.

This collaboration is a historic milestone, because it is the first breakthrough for Indonesian cooperatives to partner with international oil and gas companies, with an investment value of up to 30 million US dollars.

Deputy for Institution and Digitization of Cooperatives of the Ministry of Cooperatives (Kemenkop) Hendra Saragih explained, this collaboration includes energy resource exploration programs in Indonesia, as well as high technology transfers from Russia, which are expected to increase production capacity by up to 1,000 barrels per day.

"This cooperation further proves that cooperatives can manage and do business in all sectors, including oil and gas mining exploration. Moreover, it has been supported by the new Minerba Law and PP 39/2025," said Hendra, quoted Thursday, November 6.

In fact, continued Hendra, as a derivative of the PP, the Ministry of Cooperatives has compiled a Regulation of the Minister of Cooperatives related to cooperatives as an organizer or minerba mine manager.

"Do not let cooperatives only be tools from large companies. However, the cooperative itself is the manager of the mine," added Hendra.

For Hendra, this bold step by InKUD shows that Indonesian cooperatives are no longer limited to the conventional sector. Cooperatives can advance to class and become important players in strategic sectors such as energy.

Hendra emphasized that this collaboration is in line with the direction of government policies to expand the role of cooperatives in national industrialization and energy independence.

"We at the Kemenkop fully support this progressive step. InKUD has proven that cooperatives are able to partner with global companies and play a role in national energy development," added Hendra.

Currently, Hendra said that currently cooperative business entities have been able to manage the mineral and coal mining sector (minerba), including people's mines. The reason is, Government Regulation (PP) Number 39 of 2025 has been released by the government, namely regarding the second amendment to PP Number 96/2021 concerning the Implementation of Minerba Mining Business Activities.

Meanwhile, the General Chairperson of InKUD Portasius Nggedi explained, in the early stages, InKUD together with partners will participate in the oil and gas exploration tender in the Jambi region in 2026, focusing on community-based sustainable exploration.

"InkUD will also play an active role in providing local workers, which is believed to have a significant impact on the regional economy," added Portasius.

Portasius emphasized that this collaboration is not just a business project, but part of the big vision of empowering the people's economy.

"We want to show that cooperatives are capable of becoming the backbone of a modern economy. Through this collaboration, there will be technology transfer, increasing human resource capacity, and strengthening the economy at the grassroots level," said Portasius.