The headline refers to an article in The Jakarta Post on Sept. 24, where the government is blaming state oil and gas company Pertamina as the main contributor for the country’s high trade deficit. 

The article goes onto say that Pertamina lacks aggression in exploration; whilst this is partly true, this can also be said about the whole country for all of its natural resources, including geothermal and minerals. Exploitation has been the action for so long, exploration has not been happening and the claim that the price of oil was too low is an excuse. Exploration to production takes time.

Part of the problem is Indonesia’s Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). With conventional exploration methods the risk is high, which means that the success rate is low, which means that money will be lost; this is the cost of exploration, it ...

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.