Ministry Of Energy And Mineral Resources Pangkas Hundreds Of Oil And Gas Exploration Licensing

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Bahlil Lahadalia (Photo: Doc. VOI)

JAKARTA - Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Bahlil Lahadalia revealed, the government has cut oil and gas exploration permits from 320 to only 140 permits to attract more investors and accelerate exploration.

"After the addition of production in Banyu Urip in 2008 reached 800-900 thousand barrels per day, our oil production continues to decline to date, only 600 thousand barrels per day. In fact, our consumption reaches 1.6 million barrels per day, so we are forced to import 900 thousand to 1 million barrels per day," said Bahlil, quoted on Wednesday, October 16.

According to Bahlil, this condition is inversely proportional to the past when Indonesia was still an oil exporting country.

"If we are unable to overcome lifting, then never dream that we will achieve energy sovereignty," he said.

For this reason, the government is optimizing existing oil wells, including 16,990 idle wells, where about 5,000 wells can be reactivated to increase production.

"This problem must be resolved, first by optimizing existing and idle wells to be able to increase lifting because if there is no movement or anything, it will drop us by around 7-15 percent per year," said Bahlil.

The total oil and gas wells currently have around 44,900 wells. While only 16,990 idle wells are active.

"After the breakdown, there are approximately 5,000 that can be reactivated to encourage additional Indonesian oil production," explained Bahlil.

In addition, the Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) technology will also be used by PT Pertamina and Exxon Mobil Oil Cepu, the largest producer in Indonesia, to increase production.

Finally, Eastern Indonesia is the government's target in finding additional new oil and gas reserves.

"We must carry out exploration, especially in Eastern Indonesia. We will cut various regulations that hinder the acceleration process rather than exploration of 320 permits, now we only have 140 permits and we will shorten again with the right time so that investors can enter," said Bahlil.