Hashim's 32-Year Oil Business Journey from Indonesia to Azerbaijan and the United States
Tangerang, CNBC Indonesia – Hashim Djojohadikusumo, Special Envoy of the President for Energy and the Environment, has shared his track record as a global oil and gas entrepreneur over the past three decades. He says Indonesia has great potential ahead.
Hashim explains that his involvement in upstream oil and gas commenced long before he became the government’s special envoy. He notes that his business journey spans explorations across different continents, indicating he understands the operational dynamics and high risks of the international energy industry.
“In addition to being an oil and gas entrepreneur, I have had an oil and gas business since 1994. So I have accumulated 32 years of experience in the oil and gas sector, and I also have experience outside Indonesia,” he said at the 50th IPA Convention and Exhibition (Convex) at ICE BSD, Tangerang, quoted on Thursday, 21 May 2026.
The Djojohadikusumo family’s oil and gas expansion has reached from Central Asia to the United States. Hashim detailed several countries where his company has held concessions and operated actively, from Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan to California in the United States.
“We have had concessions in Brunei. We have operations in Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, the United States — in California — and Brunei as an oil entrepreneur. We have concessions in Brunei. Unfortunately in Brunei we failed to achieve success, although we did find opportunities, but we have been reasonably successful in other countries,” he explained.
From decades of experience, Hashim stressed that the key to successful oil and gas investments anywhere lies in three main factors: legal certainty, political stability, and a competitive fiscal regime. He believes this recipe for success is well understood by the Indonesian government today to attract more global investors.
“If we have those elements — political stability, security and order — and we also have compliance with contracts, then I believe we have the recipe, the ingredients for future success,” he concluded.