Traditional oil workers fight to survive
Traditional oil workers fight to survive
By Gin Kurniawan and Risang Pamungkastiran
BOJONEGORO, East Java (JP): It is surprising that in our age
of modern technology, some oil drilling activities today are
managed the way they were a century ago. Such traditional mining
techniques are still carried out in the middle of a teak forest
in the hilly area of Wonocolo, Kasiman subdistrict, some 75 km
west of Bojonegoro, East Java.
Few people are aware that oil exploitation activities are
occurring in this thick teak forest owned by state forest company
Perhutani. No looming oil refineries are in sight. No pipes
distributing oil to refineries can be seen and the buzzing sounds
of drilling machines, very common at oil fields, are not heard.
The site hosts only a few simple houses for workers to rest and
some towers made of teak beams.
To the residents of Kasiman subdistrict, however, these
traditional oil mining activities, handed down from generation to
generation, are a means of etching out a living. The mining site
measures about 6 hectares and has about 196 oil wells. Only 15 of
these wells are still productive today, the others having dried
up years ago.
"These productive wells can produce an average of 35,000
liters of crude oil a day," said Sumewa, one of the mining
coordinators.
Nowadays, the oil from Kasiman is transported in trucks to
state-owned oil company PT Pertamina's facilities in Cepu to be
processed into gasoline, diesel oil, benzol and asphalt.
Previously, the workers processed the crude oil and sold the
refined products themselves. However, in 1988 the Bojonegoro
regional administration issued a regulation requiring them to
send their crude oil to Pertamina. Since then, the wells at
Kasiman have been under the supervision of Pertamina's Cepu
office.
It is interesting to note that even after Pertamina became
involved in the wells, the process of oil collection has remained
traditional. The oil, which is at a depth of 300 meters to 500
meters underground, is pumped by manually operated sucker rods,
or buckets with a capacity of 20 liters to 80 liters each. The
equipment is created by the local oil workers.
Each team of oilmen utilizes a wooden triangular tower
standing 25 meters above a well from which buckets are hung on
steel wires 500 meters long. A pulley is used as a lever.
Indeed, these workers have never been acquainted with modern
technology. Machines have been used in some cases, but the
majority of work is done by human muscle. Some teams use old
trucks to hoist the buckets, though most find this method too
expensive compared to their earnings.
"Pertamina has always bought the crude oil from this area at a
low price," Sudardjo said. Other workers nodded at his statement.
Within a six hour work session, a worker collects four 200-
liter drums of crude oil on average. The oil is sold to Pertamina
through the Boga Sasono Village Unit Cooperative, which acts as a
middleman, at Rp 12,200 a drum, or about Rp 61 per liter.
"We have requested Pertamina to raise the price but it has yet
to act. Honestly, at the current price, we hardly earn enough to
feed our families," he added.
Of course, the workers do not receive the full amount sold for
each drum. The capital owner takes a 65 percent share, leaving Rp
5,500 per drum to the workers. The workers claim that the price
set by the cooperative is in fact Rp 100 per liter, but that Rp
39 goes to the Bojonegoro regional administration as a compulsory
levy for road construction. An improved road system, however, has
yet to be developed in the area. The road leading to the mining
site remains in poor repair and is steep and full of holes.
These contract and working conditions result in a poor life
for the workers. This was not always the case. There was a time
when Wonocolo oil workers had their heyday. At that time, there
were even some local oil "tycoons" such as Watah, the Wonocolo
village head, and Kartorejo, Hargomulyo village's chief. From
1968 to 1988, these two men held a monopoly over the local oil
mining activities. They were then among the wealthiest men in
East Java and the people working for them were also more
prosperous than today.
"After these two men died, the Bojonegoro regional
administration revoked the workers' right to process and market
their oil. We used to sell the oil directly to places as far away
as Klaten, Solo (Surakarta) and other major cities," said
Sumarto, an executive board member of the Boga Sasono
cooperative.
With such limitations placed on the workers, oil production in
the area has declined sharply. Many oil workers have taken up new
lives as farmers, he said. He added that nothing had been done to
repair the heavily damaged roads and a significant amount of
neglected oil had been left to dry.
Many oil workers continue simply to keep these activities
going on. They believe their traditional oil mining methods must
pass the test of time.
Early on, crude oil in this area, locally known as lantung,
was collected by the locals for household uses. At that time,
even small streams contained a high oil content.
With the opening of Batavia Petroleum Maatschapai (BPM) in
1900, locals were no longer allowed to collect oil. Refineries
were set up and modern equipment arrived. The company was
licensed by the Dutch colonial government. "Historically, oil
mining activities in Kasiman were initiated by the Dutch
company," said Sumewa, a retired Pertamina employee.
However, after conducting oil mining activities for 35 years,
BPM ceased its operations. All mining equipment was dismantled
and transported elsewhere. Only drilling wells were left.
Over 20 years later, these neglected oil wells drew local
interest. In 1958, they began to make use of these old oil wells.
Traditional oil mining activities began in earnest and continued
up to 1988. It was during this period that the Kasiman locals had
their heyday.
Then came the gloomy days. The local oil worker continue, in a
touching manner, to stick to their old ways. But how much longer
can they go on? Soaring prices have forced them to turn to other
jobs with better wages.