MPR: Oil and Gas Bill crucial for strengthening energy security
Deputy Speaker of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) Eddy Soeparno has stated that deliberation of the Oil and Gas Bill (RUU Migas) is important for strengthening national energy security while also encouraging increased investment and domestic oil and gas production.
Eddy said the resumption of deliberations on the Oil and Gas Bill, after all factions of the House of Representatives (DPR) agreed to the bill as a DPR initiative during the Plenary Session on 18 August 2026, is a positive development for the national oil and gas sector.
“This is a positive development in the national oil and gas sector, considering that a number of articles in the current Oil and Gas Law (Law Number 22 of 2001) have been annulled by the Constitutional Court, thus requiring more definitive regulation to support increased investment and activity in the oil and gas sector, which is greatly needed,” Eddy said in his statement in Jakarta on Monday.
According to him, regulatory renewal is necessary because Indonesia’s oil and gas production has continued to decline since 1998, partly due to a lack of investment, particularly in the crude oil sector.
“It cannot be denied that Indonesia’s oil and gas production has declined since 1998 due to underinvestment in the oil and gas sector, particularly in crude oil. A number of structural and technical issues that have so far hampered investment in the oil and gas sector need to be addressed thoroughly, among others by providing legal certainty through the new Oil and Gas Bill,” said the member of House Commission XII.
Eddy expressed hope that the Oil and Gas Bill and its implementing regulations will be able to resolve the regulatory and policy issues that have so far hindered investment, so that the national oil and gas potential can be developed, especially through the acceleration of exploration in the upstream sector.
“Key issues such as legal certainty, policy consistency and the provision of incentives in the upstream oil and gas sector are among a number of central issues that have so far made the national oil and gas sector less competitive compared to other countries. I hope the Oil and Gas Bill, which will soon be discussed together with the government, will accelerate activities, particularly exploration in the upstream oil and gas sector,” Eddy said.
He also added that the establishment of a Special Business Entity to regulate upstream oil and gas business activities needs to be a focus in the deliberation of the Oil and Gas Bill.
According to him, the institution must have strong and credible capacity to encourage investment.
“Because one of the articles annulled by the Constitutional Court in Oil and Gas Law Number 21 of 2001 concerns the existence of an institution that regulates activities in the upstream oil and gas sector. The new Oil and Gas Bill needs to ensure that the regulator, which is the government’s business authority in the upstream oil and gas sector, is not only a strong and credible business institution, but also an institution capable of mobilising greater investment in the national oil and gas sector,” he said.
Eddy stressed that the aim of establishing the new Oil and Gas Law is not only to increase oil and gas production and lifting, but also to reduce Indonesia’s dependence on imports of crude oil and fuel.
“Indonesia has vulnerability in the energy sector because it still requires imports to meet domestic crude oil and fuel needs. Therefore, through this Oil and Gas Bill, increased production of both crude oil and natural gas can be achieved, so that dependence on hydrocarbon products needed for the transportation, industrial and household sectors can be minimised and even eliminated,” he said.
According to Eddy, energy security is increasingly important amid geopolitical uncertainty that could disrupt energy supply and prices.
“Disruption in the energy sector due to highly uncertain geopolitical conditions is a concern for all of us, because it has a direct impact on the availability and affordability of crude oil and fuel prices. Therefore, strengthening energy security is essential and this can be achieved, among others, by introducing a new, robust and investor-friendly Oil and Gas Law,” Eddy said.