New oil exploration a must: Association
New oil exploration a must: Association
Wahyoe Boediwardhana, The Jakarta Post, Malang, East Java
At the current pace of production, and without new exploration,
Indonesia's existing productive oil wells -- which account for
some 25 percent of the country's estimated total reserves -- will
run dry in the next 22 years, says the Indonesian Association of
Geologists.
Indonesia produces about 1.1 million barrels of oil per day,
mostly coming from wells located in Sumatra, Kalimantan and West
Java.
It is therefore high time for the government to increase
efforts to boost investment in the sector in order to find new
wells, association chairman Andang Bachtiar said on Thursday.
Aside from that, a change in existing regulations would do
some good as well, he added. Andang was speaking during a one-day
seminar on Sedimentology and Petroleum Geology in Indonesia at
the Brawijaya University here.
"The policymakers in the oil and gas sector must change their
thinking about the exploration cycle. Oil and gas reserves in
Indonesia are not unlimited, but they are not fully explored and
that should be the basis of our regulations," Andang said.
"The paradigm should be changed. We have plenty of potential
other than the existing explored oil wells."
He cited as an example the need to revise current exploration
contracts with investors, by among others, stipulating that
investors should open at least one new oil well within three
years or risk fines. This was aimed at encouraging more fresh
exploration in untapped areas.
Aside from that, Andang also pointed to the need for a
transparent data policy. At present, a company is allowed to keep
its exploration data for 10 years.
"If the data can be publicly accessed, then other companies
could make better exploration concepts. Ideally, the data should
be open to the public and universities," he said.
"But there is the price for the information."
Indonesia has been struggling to lure fresh investment into
the country due mostly to the adverse investment and business
climate here.
Because of ever-increasing domestic consumption, Indonesia has
to import large amounts of crude oil and refined oil products to
meet demand.