Government Approves Offshore Oil And Gas Platform In East Kalimantan To Be Dismantled To Become Artificial Coral Reef

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The Indonesian government, through the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources and the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, has approved the demolition of an offshore oil and gas rig production facility to become an artificial coral reef.

The conversion project will be carried out at the Attaka-I, Attaka-UA, and Attaka-EB oil and gas platforms in the East Kalimantan Block and Attaka which is located in East Kalimantan.

"This pilot project can be a solution for post-operation activities in Indonesian waters," said Deputy for Coordinating Maritime Sovereignty and Energy at the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs Basilio Dias Araulo in a statement in Jakarta, quoted from Antara, Wednesday, February 2.

The work will be carried out in collaboration with the South Korean government in the form of converting oil and gas platforms into rigs to reefs, namely the practice of converting offshore oil platforms into artificial coral reefs.

Currently, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources has issued an Approval for the Implementation of Post-Operation Activities and the Elimination of State Property.

Previously, on October 13, 2021, the Indonesian and Korean governments strengthened maritime cooperation in the offshore platform service industry.

The cooperation was marked by the signing of a memorandum of understanding by Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan with the Minister of Oceans and Fisheries of the Republic of Korea Moon Seong-Hyeok.

Apart from the three platforms in the East Kalimantan and Attaka Blocks, there are still many other platforms that need to be decommissioned with the same or different schemes, of course in an economical and environmentally friendly way.