Breaking Free from Import Dependence: National Oil and Gas Industry Pushed to Rise as Global Player

Indonesia’s oil and gas (migas) industry is currently assessed as being at a critical point. High dependence on imports of strategic equipment, limited mastery of technology, and the still weak domestic industrial base are obstacles for Indonesia to compete in the global supply chain. For a long time, Indonesia has been trapped in a resource extraction scheme and has not fully shifted to strengthening industrial capability. In response to this urgency, the Indonesian Association of Oil and Gas Production Facilities Experts (IAFMI) together with the Indonesian Oil and Gas Community (KMI) is fully pushing for the transformation of the national supporting migas industry. This concrete step is realised through a working visit (factory visit) to the production facility of Indonesia Seamless Tube (IST) owned by PT Artas Energi Petrogas in the Krakatau Steel Industrial Area, Cilegon. The visit was directly led by the Secretary General of IAFMI, Gede Pramona, accompanied by IAFMI officials, and attended by the Chairman of KMI, S Herry Putranto. The main focus in that meeting was to formulate strategies to strengthen the competitiveness of domestic seamless pipe products, which have now reached a Domestic Component Level (TKDN) of 46%, so that they can truly be hosts in their own country. “Indonesia cannot continue to be a market for the global industry. We must become producers, technology owners, and supply chain controllers. If not now, we will continue to be left behind,” said the Chief Commercial Officer of PT Artas Energi Petrogas, Hendrik Kawilarang Luntungan, in his statement on Sunday, 3 May 2026. The national industrial capability has actually been proven by PT Artas Energi Petrogas. As the only seamless tube producer in the country, IST products have been trusted in various projects of Contractors of Cooperation Contracts (KKKS) with global API 5CT and API 5L quality standards. Not only substituting imports, this company has also successfully exported its products to markets in Asia to the Middle East, and contributed state foreign exchange of Rp 15 trillion. Through this strategic collaboration, IAFMI and KMI target a migas industry transformation capable of delivering five significant impacts, namely: a sharp reduction in migas equipment import figures, cost recovery efficiency, an increase in TKDN oriented towards quality, the birth of national champions in the migas industrial sector, and establishing Indonesia as the main migas industrial base in the Southeast Asia region.