Bahlil Reveals Indonesian Oil and Gas Facilities Nearly Fell Victim to Forest Fires

The Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM), Bahlil Lahadalia, has revealed that forest and land fires (karhutla) recently approached vital oil and gas (migas) facilities in Indonesia.

Bahlil disclosed that one such incident occurred in the Bintuni region of West Papua, involving facilities owned by BP. However, the fire was successfully managed before it could cause further impact on the oil and gas infrastructure.

“Regarding the recent fires, they nearly reached the facilities; thankfully, I am grateful to Allah that we were able to handle it in Bintuni at BP. In Kalimantan, it is clear. If we had been late at BP, it would have been disastrous, but thankfully it has been managed,” Bahlil stated at the DPR RI Building, as reported on Tuesday (9/1/2026).

Previously, the Special Task Force for Upstream Oil and Gas Business Activities (SKK Migas) declared a level one alert status following forest and land fires approaching several vital upstream oil and gas facilities in Indonesia.

The Head of SKK Migas, Djoko Siswanto, stated that the level one alert was implemented as an anticipatory measure to ensure the safety of facilities and to prevent disruptions to national oil and gas production activities.

“We are currently on level one alert for fires in various locations, anticipating the need to close wells if the fire continues to approach, as well as managing fires approaching existing condensate tanks,” said Djoko during a Hearing (RDP) with Commission XII of the DPR RI on Wednesday (26/8/2026).

According to Djoko, SKK Migas is also preparing anticipatory measures to prevent unplanned shutdowns or unplanned operational halts caused by forest fires. Additionally, SKK Migas is preparing several flexibilities regarding the utilisation of contracted gas.

“We will prevent unplanned shutdowns, and to address potential financial constraints, we will provide incentives and flexibility in the use of contracted gas. Occasionally, some consumers or PLN (the state electricity company) do not reach full absorption, so we want to create flexible contracts so that we can reallocate gas to other locations at any time,” he added.