ASIATODAY.ID, JAKARTA – The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources of the Republic of Indonesia has sent a warning letter to the concession holder for a large oil and gas field in Indonesia, the Masela block, because they have not resumed production after completing exploration 26 years ago.
Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources of the Republic of Indonesia Bahlil Lahadalia said that he had sent the first warning letter to the management of the Working Area.
However, Bahlil did not directly reveal which company had been given the first warning letter and the threat of revoking its oil and gas field management permit.
Bahlil previously said he would carry out an evaluation of the Masela Block concession rights which are currently held by Inpex Masela Ltd. Meanwhile, Inpex has held the Masela Block concession since 1998 or 26 years but has not published an oil and gas field development plan.
“This is also an announcement that there is a Working Area where one of the largest gas giants has been discovered for 26 years, but its status has not been raised. I have written the first warning letter, and if the second one still doesn’t work, I will withdraw it,” said Bahlil when speaking at the Mandiri Investment Forum (IMF) 2025, Tuesday, 11 February 2025.
Bahlil seemed disappointed because the Masela block project had not provided significant developments. In fact, the Masela Block is a National Strategic Project and Inpex has obtained the concession rights since 1998.
For this reason, after giving the first warning letter, Bahlil did not hesitate to give a second warning letter and at the same time revoked the permit to manage the gas field in the Arafura Sea.
He argued that this step was part of achieving the oil production or lifting target of up to 1 million barrels per day by 2029. Oil production at the end of last year was only around 600,000 barrels per day.
Bahlil noted that oil production last year fell by 62.5% compared to 1997’s achievement of 1.6 million barrels per day. In fact, in 1997, national oil consumption was only 600,000 barrels per day.
He noted that national oil consumption had risen to 1.6 million barrels per day. Indonesia’s status as a net exporter in 1998 has turned into a net importer of 1 million barrels per day last year.
According to him, the reason why Indonesia has become an importer is the large number of passive oil wells in the country, reaching around 24,000 wells. In addition, the 16,000 oil wells that are still producing currently are old or around 75 years old.
Because of this, Bahlil will boost 300 wells that have completed the exploration stage to start production this year. At the same time, Bahlil plans to maximize production from 16,000 existing wells using advanced oil dewatering or EOR technology.
“We will carry out evaluations on the wells that have been completed so that entrepreneurs do not control the state. At the same time, the state must not be tyrannical to entrepreneurs,” he said. (AT Network)
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