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View all search resultsGovt seeks to boost oil output with MSMEs operating old wells
The government's new “community oil well” initiative aims to reactivate idle wells under the operation of MSMEs as a means of boosting national output, with initial sales slated to begin on Aug. 1.
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People watch on April 25, 2018, as a column of flame shoots out from an illegal oil well in Pasi Puteh village, East Aceh, Aceh, sparking a blaze in which at least 11 people were killed and more than 40 injured. (Antara/Maulana)
T
he government aims to ramp up oil production, following many years of missing the national target, by allowing micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to operate old wells under a new initiative dubbed Sumur Minyak Rakyat, or “community oil well”.
MSMEs Minister Maman Abdurrahman said the ministry would work with the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry on implementing the initiative, which would significantly increase oil production and create jobs.
“So, old wells in Indonesia will become MSMEs and will become cooperatives to push our national oil production,” Maman said on Tuesday, as quoted by state news agency Antara.
Energy Ministry Regulation No. 14/2025, which was enacted on June 10, provides the legal basis for MSMEs to operate old wells, defined as wells drilled before 1970 that were once operational but are now inactive.
Read also: Four oil and gas projects onstream, 11 more by year-end: SKK Migas
On the same day, deputy energy minister Yuliot Tanjung said MSMEs must be registered as a limited liability company (PT), while small-scale businesses must have at least Rp 5 billion (US$304,701) in capital and medium-scale businesses at least twice that amount to be eligible to participate in the new initiative, Antara reported.
“We hope that making old wells available for partnerships with MSMEs and cooperatives will increase our national oil and gas production,” he added.
