Jed Clampett-wannabe strikes out
Jed Clampett-wannabe strikes out
The Jakarta Post, Cirebon, West Java
After a series of tests and studies, state-owned oil and gas firm
Pertamina stated it had found no oil reserves on land belonging
to Slamet Bukhori, a farmer in Brebes, West Java.
Slamet claimed two weeks ago that the water in his well was
mixed with oil. His claim drew a lot of public attention,
requiring the police to seal off the area surrounding the well,
as many villagers have tried to take some of the water, prompting
Pertamina to undergo tests in the hopes of finding oil reserves
in surrounding areas.
On Monday however, they released the results of the study,
concluded that there was not a sufficient amount of oil found to
declare the area an oil reserve.
"Based on our technical team's research, we concluded that the
infiltrated water that Slamet found could not be categorized as
oil," Pertamina's West Java spokeswoman Sri Kustini said.
Ari Buhari, the research team leader explained that the oil-
like substance in Slamet's well could not be considered oil.
"We took a water sample two days after Slamet reported the
substance in his well," said Sri Kustini, adding that the team
was also joined by Pertamina's environmental protection and work
safety team.
Sri Kustini commented earlier after the finding that it was
not likely that there would be an oil reserve in the area as the
well was only six to seven meters deep.
Most of the time, oil can only be found at a depth of 2,500
meters, although some -- like the Cepu field -- can also be found
at 500 meters.
She also mentioned that this was not Pertamina's first
investigation in the area, as it had conducted a seismic survey
in 2003, finding two potential oil reserve locations in Dukuh
Tengah village and Jagapura village.
"We still need to do more research to determine whether the
locations are worth exploring or not," she said.
Indonesia's oil production is on a declining trend, about 6
percent annually, over the years. And with oil consumption rising
by about 5 percent per year, the country is in desperate needs of
finding new oil reserves.