New Oil Well Discovered in Depok, Residents Strike it Lucky

In the midst of Depok city’s bustling development in West Java, few people know that the area was once buzzed by the discovery of a new oil source. The location was in Gandul, an area that was then still dominated by residential settlements and vacant land, situated within Bogor Regency’s administrative jurisdiction.

This event occurred in 1973. Based on a daily report from Abadi newspaper (29 August 1973), the discovery originated from surveys and research conducted by Pertamina. Initial exploration results indicated that beneath the Gandul area lay reserves of oil and natural gas.

The finding prompted Pertamina to prepare further steps. The state-owned company planned to purchase residents’ land for energy project development purposes. At least approximately 20 hectares of land were planned to be cleared for various activities supporting exploration operations.

“In this regard, the regional government is now completing the acquisition of 20 hectares of land needed for residential purposes, government offices, and other uses,” stated the Abadi newspaper.

Initially, operations were scheduled to commence in December 1973. However, before the project truly began, news of the oil reserves beneath residents’ land spread widely. This information caused land prices in the area to surge dramatically within a short period.

According to the Abadi newspaper (31 July 1973), land prices that originally ranged from Rp450 to Rp550 per square metre suddenly skyrocketed to approximately Rp2,000 per square metre. This price surge was partly due to the role of land brokers who exploited the situation.

“They succeeded in persuading 45 landowner residents,” the newspaper stated.

Despite the emergence of brokerage practices, Pertamina continued the process of purchasing residents’ land at prices deemed fair. This approach was taken because the company had a target timeline to begin drilling by year’s end. Meanwhile, residents whose land had been acquired suddenly became wealthy, as if they had struck gold.

However, when further exploration was conducted in December 1973, the results fell short of expectations. The volume of oil and natural gas discovered proved to be extremely small. If drilling were to continue, operational costs were estimated to far exceed potential profits.

For this reason, the oil exploitation project was ultimately discontinued. The land that had already been purchased was then converted into a residential complex for Pertamina employees.

Nevertheless, traces of the story of the oil well in Gandul and Sawangan can still be found today. According to a Detik.com report, the well still releases foam and oil to the present day. The surrounding area also emanates a sulphur smell from gas escaping from underground.

Local residents call the location “banyu mudal”. In Javanese, banyu means water, whilst mudal means abundant. Beyond being an object that attracts attention, some people have also made it a place for alternative medicine and a spiritual site to seek blessings for fortune and marriage prospects.