Bojonegoro crude keeps local happy<\/p>\n
ID Nugroho, The Jakarta Post\/Bojonegoro<\/p>\n
The sound of the adzan (call for early morning prayer) has barely
\nended when Sukardjan starts his day's work.<\/p>\n
Slowly, the 50-year-old opens the lid of a well and drops a
\nlarge bucket to the bottom. "Let's begin," Sukardjan tells his
\nworkmates.<\/p>\n
They pull up the bucket containing a mixture of crude oil,
\nrocks and water and pour it into a small ditch before repeating
\nthe movement.<\/p>\n
Once the ditch is full they pour the collected oil into
\nbarrels before selling it to traders.<\/p>\n
Sukardjan is one of thousands of people in Bojonegoro, who for
\nyears have been tapping Bojonegoro's onshore oil resources for a
\nliving.<\/p>\n
Studies by oil companies show Bojonegoro has potential
\nreserves of hundreds of millions of barrels of oil.<\/p>\n
In Wonocolo, where Sukardjan works, people extract oil from
\nabout 200 wells in the area, and the number of wells is growing.<\/p>\n
"Extracting oil and farming are the two main jobs in this
\nregency," said Syukur, another Wonocolo resident.<\/p>\n
The oil men begin work at 4 a.m and finish at 10 a.m. In six
\nhours they are usually able to collect about 400 liters of crude.<\/p>\n
"Each liter is priced Rp 150 (0.016 U.S. cents)," Syukur said.<\/p>\n
The price of oil they have extracted has not changed in five
\nyears, despite turbulence in international oil prices.<\/p>\n
"We would like an increase in the prices for the crude oil
\nthat we have extracted. But, we don't know why this never
\nhappens," said another miner, Sukardi.<\/p>\n
The large reserves in Bojonegoro, East Java province, have
\nattracted attention from some top players in the oil industry,
\nincluding PT Exxon Mobil Oil.<\/p>\n
"According to our estimate, the oil reserves in Bojonegoro
\nreach 600 million barrels," company spokeswoman Deva Rahman said.<\/p>\n
The company is currently negotiating with the Bojonegoro
\nregental administration for it to be allowed to explore oil in
\nthe regency.<\/p>\n
Although the negotiations have not yet been settled, the
\nBojonegoro regency is already making plans to host a large
\ninternational company in the area.<\/p>\n
It has set up a company to arrange revenue sharing between the
\nregency and private companies wishing to explore oil.<\/p>\n
In order to prepare human resources for the industry, it has
\nset up oil workshops in several districts in the regency and it
\nis also facilitating the establishment of technical petrochemical
\nengineering schools.<\/p>\n
Rumors that an oil company will move to the regency has raised
\nthe price of land in the area that is populated by some 1.1
\nmillion people.<\/p>\n
Agus Segro Budiono, a resident, said that the price of land in
\nsome places had soared to Rp 300,000 a square meter. In 2001,
\nthe same area sold for only Rp 15,000, Agus said.<\/p>\n
While landowners are happy, a local environmental group
\nexpressed its concern over the likelihood of oil exploration in
\nthe regency.<\/p>\n
Indonesian Forum for Environment (Walhi) executive Saiful
\nAshadi said any exploration would pollute the environment.<\/p>\n
"Exploration would emit Hydrosulfida (H2S) substances into the
\nair, leading to air pollution," Saiful said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/bojonegoro-crude-keeps-local-happy-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}