Pertamina Asked To Release The Unemployed Well, Bahlil: Don't Napsu The Chicken Power Horse

Crude oil illustration (Photo: unsplash)

JAKARTA - Investment Minister/Head of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) Bahlil Lahadalia asked PT Pertamina (Persero) to release idle or inactive wells to local investors so that they can be reactivated.

This aims to increase the achievement of domestic oil and gas lifting in order to achieve the target of 1 million barrels of oil per day by 2030.

"Pertamina is concrete, which one can you do what we don't do, we don't do all the wells but production doesn't go up and down," said Bahlil, quoted on Thursday, September 20.

Just so you know, Pertamina holds power over 70 percent of the total 10,000 oil and gas wells in Indonesia. For this reason, he said, in a limited meeting with President Joko Widodo, he was given directions for idle wells and had matured and could no longer be optimized by Pertamina to be given to national private oil and gas entrepreneurs. If later it cannot be handled by domestic companies, it will be released to entrepreneurs from abroad.

"Or collaboration. You can no longer worry about yourself. Don't feel like this is our country, but don't let our ability to ride a chicken-powered horse, it doesn't matter either," continued Bahlil.

For this reason, he asked the Ministry and related institutions to provide permits and incentives as well as good community conditions so that upstream oil and gas investment can be executed and increase economic value.

At the Ministry of BKPM, he said, it provides several incentives such as tax holidays, tax allowances and imports of capital goods.

"All of that can be resolved at the Ministry of Investment because it refers to the Job Creation Law," Bahlil continued.

Present on the same occasion, Deputy Chairman of SKK Migas, Nanang Abdul Manaf explained that there are several schemes offered by SKK Migas to process idle wells, among others, Operational Cooperation (KSO) that can be carried out between domestic entrepreneurs. In addition, there is a regulation of the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources no.1 of 2008 regarding the processing of old wells and can be managed by KUD and BUMD.

"In Cepu there are several, Blora, Pasuruan and now there are in South Sumatran," added Nanang.

And the last scheme is idle well management that operators don't do and offer to service companies.

"And there are already hundreds of wells whose production is quite significant," concluded Nanang.