Heaptalk, Jakarta — Indonesia still has a lot of unexplored oil and gas potential, as the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Arifin Tasrif stated when opening the 48th IPA Convention & Exhibition (IPA Convex 2024) at ICE BSD on Tuesday (05/14).
“To meet oil and gas needs, Indonesia is currently focusing its efforts on oil and gas basin exploration, considering that Indonesia still has a lot of oil and gas reserves that have not been utilized. Of the 128 hydrocarbon basins, 68 are still unexplored,” said Arifin Tasrif at IPA Convex 2024 opening ceremony.
The Indonesian government, recognizing the crucial role of stakeholders in the oil and gas industry, encourages adding new oil and gas working areas to boost exploration. He voiced “This is done as the upstream oil and gas industry is still needed, especially for transportation and electricity generation.”
On this occasion, Arifin also invited investors to participate in the government’s work area bidding process or negotiate directly with the government. “We also provide several tax facilities and incentives for upstream business activities to provide an attractive investment climate for investors regarding the economic aspects of oil and gas development,” he added.
As is known, these tax facilities will include several indirect tax exemptions regulated in Government Regulation No. 27 of 2017 and Government Regulation No. 53 of 2017. In addition, the Upstream Business Activity Incentive will cover all provisions under the minister’s authority as regulated in the Decree of the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources No. 199 of 2021.
“Currently, we are in the final stages of revising Government Regulations No. 27 and 53 of 2017. This revision aims to increase the economic viability of oil and gas projects,” Arifin underscored.
Aligned with the Net Zero Emission commitment, the Government has also established regulations regarding CCS/CCUS, including Presidential Regulation No. 14 of 2024. This regulation covers implementation aspects based on carbon capture and storage, which had not previously been regulated in the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Regulation No. 2 of 2023 on the Implementation of CCS/CCUS Activities in Upstream Oil and Gas Business Activities.
“Currently, there are 15 CCS/CCUS projects in various stages. With total CO2 storage resources of more than 500 Giga tons, we believe Indonesia has the opportunity to expand the development of the CCS/CCUS business,” Arifin concluded.
