Pertamina's birthday gift for Indonesia is reflected in the optimal performance of the Pertamina Group in 2023, accompanied by international recognition including the world's number one ESG ranking for the integrated oil and gas subsector, as well as the inclusion of Pertamina's president director in the 100 Most Influential Figures in the World list according to Forbes and Fortune.

In the Fortune magazine, the president director of Pertamina is the only person from the ASEAN region to make the list.

"Throughout 2023, Pertamina has carried out various business innovations and increased domestic and overseas oil and gas production as part of our efforts to increase oil and gas production for Indonesia, grow the transitional energy ecosystem and develop partnerships with various credible business partners. This was done to strengthen Pertamina's role in Indonesia and its exposure as a global energy company," explained Pertamina President Director Nicke Widyawati.

Pertamina has been consistently included in the Fortune Global 500. Even as other global energy companies showed a decline in performance because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the geopolitical situation, Pertamina was able to jump 82 places, becoming number 141 in the 2023 Fortune 500 announcement.

The company also showcased its status as an investment destination from its global credit ratings, all of which are at the "Investment Grade" level, according to international credit rating agencies such as Moody’s at BAA2, Standard & Poor’s at BBB and Fitch Ratings at BBB.

Alongside its business sector, Pertamina also improved its environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance, receiving a score of 20.7 (medium risk) from the Sustainalytics rating agency on Nov. 30, 2023, and confirming the company's number one position in the integrated oil and gas sub-industry, surpassing scores of global oil and gas companies.

One of Pertamina's ESG impacts is evident in the Corporate Social Responsibility (TJSL) program, through which Pertamina has made social investments that impact 344,000 beneficiaries by the end of 2023. Several TJSL programs also have an impact on decarbonization and have resulted in a reduction in carbon emissions of up to 715,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) per year, including the Desa Energi Berdikari (Independent Energy Village) program, which has run in 77 locations throughout Indonesia as of December 2023.

To encourage the national economy, explained Nicke, the company is implementing applicable regulations. As of October 2023, Pertamina had contributed Rp 255.51 trillion, consisting of taxes, dividends, Non-Tax State Revenue (PNBP) and signature bonuses as a measure for its compliance in paying taxes and other financial aspects.

In addition, Pertamina also implemented the Domestic Content Level (TKDN), of which the consolidated TKDN of Pertamina Group in 2023 will reach 72.5 percent.

"For Pertamina, sustainability is a strategy to grow the company, improve community welfare and maintain resilience, independence and energy sovereignty in Indonesia. This sustainable program will develop an economy that reaches all communities, has a multiplier effect and becomes a catalyst for economic development," Nicke said.

Pertamina subholding excels

As of October 2023, PT Pertamina Hulu Energi (PHE) as an upstream subholding has succeeded in achieving production exceeding 1 million BOEPD (Barrels of Oil Equivalent per Day). PHE's national contribution is also increasingly significant with oil growing by 86 percent and gas by 32 percent, while also playing a role in developing Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS) technology in Indonesia through the first CO2 injection in the Jatibarang Field, West Java and the Sukowati Field in  East Java.

Meanwhile, the Refinery Development Masterplan Program (RDMP) carried out by the refining and petrochemical subholding PT Kilang Pertamina Internasional (KPI) recorded positive progress. As an important national strategic project in increasing high-quality fuel production, the construction of the Balikpapan RDMP has reached 85.9 percent complete as of Nov. 30, 2023.

The RDMP is targeted to increase processing capacity and product quality equivalent to EURO V. Currently, KPI is able to meet up to 60 percent of national fuel needs along with meeting all national needs for Gasoil and Avtur products.

Several of Pertamina's existing refineries are also running green refinery projects, including the Cilacap green refinery with environmentally friendly products Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) or Biofuel, as well as Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) or Bioavtur.

SAF, which comes from a mixture of biofuels and fossil fuels, has the potential to decarbonize up to 22,000 tons of CO2e per year. This aircraft fuel has gone through the flight test stage, and has been proven to have equivalent performance to conventional aviation fuel. KPI will synergize with PT Pertamina Patra Niaga in developing the SAF business.

In addition, PT Pertamina International Shipping (PIS) as an integrated marine logistics subholding is also expanding massively to successfully double PIS's international shipping routes, which have now reached 50 international routes and five continents.

To ensure energy security in the country and support the national maritime industry in the global market, PIS now operates 869 vessels consisting of 95 owned tankers, 315 chartered tankers and 459 support vessels. Of this, 59 PIS tankers have sailed in international waters, including the first VLGC Dual Fuel vessel in Indonesia, Pertamina Gas Amaryllis, which has succeeded in reducing emissions by 40 percent.

Apart from that, gas subholding PT Perusahaan Gas Negara Tbk in 2023 increased the construction of household gas networks. As of Q3 2023, the networks have been implemented in 73 cities/districts using pipe and beyond pipeline transportation modes with a total of 834,165 household connection customers. The household gas networks reduce the burden of government subsidies in providing 3 kilogram liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) containers and support the provision of transitional energy toward NZE.

Commercial and trading subholding PT Pertamina Patra Niaga has ensured the availability of energy for communities in remote areas of the country, including through programs such as the BBM 1 Harga (single-price fuel) program for 3T (outermost, frontier and disadvantaged) communities which has now spread to 502 locations in Indonesia.

In addition, there are now 6,647 Pertashops throughout Indonesia along with One Village One Outlet (OVOO) for 97 percent of villages throughout Indonesia, with 248,992 subsidized LPG outlets and 86,269 non-subsidized LPG outlets. Patra Niaga is also gradually improving gas station facilities and facilities to provide convenience for consumers.

Furthermore, new and renewable energy power subholding Pertamina NRE plays a role in the energy transition. It has increased the installed capacity of green energy, especially solar power plants (PLTS), by 48 megawatt peaks (MWp), of which 43 MWp is utilized by Pertamina Group internally and the remaining 5 MWp is for external consumers. This capacity shows a significant increase over the previous year’s at 28.6 MWp. It is estimated that Pertamina's internal PLTS use can reach 500 MW, in stages. One of the PLTS programs is the installation in the Rokan Working Area (WK) of 25 MWp.

For the geothermal sector, through PT Pertamina Geothermal Energy Tbk, the installed capacity of Geothermal Power Plants (PLTP) currently reaches 672 MW and is targeted to reach one gigawatt (GW) in two years. Another portfolio that Pertamina NRE is developing is clean hydrogen, which has a strategic role in the energy transition where green and blue hydrogen can serve as a solution to replace fossil fuels for industries that find it difficult to decarbonize their products or production processes (hard-to-abate industries) such as oil refineries, steel manufacturing, other heavy industries and heavy transportation.

Not only that, Pertamina NRE became a pioneer in carbon trading on the Indonesian carbon exchange (IDXCarbon) by selling 864,000 tonnes of CO2e emissions from Lahendong PLTP Units 5 and 6. These carbon credits have met the national standards set by the Environment and Forestry Ministry. Pertamina NRE will become an aggregator in carbon trading, especially for the Pertamina Group, as well as for other companies and SOEs in general.

"Pertamina's brilliant achievements in 2023 are supported by all Pertamina officers and workers, who are located throughout Indonesia and in Pertamina operational areas abroad. With these 66 years, we believe that in the future Pertamina Group will be even bigger and make the Indonesian nation proud on the global stage," Nicke concluded.