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Pertamina under fire for oil spill, low productivity
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Residents of Cemaranaya Beach clean up the oil spill from the nearby offshore oil and gas block Offshore North West Java (ONWJ) operated by state energy giant Pertmina’s upstream unit Pertamina Hulu Energi (PHE). (Antara/M. Ibnu Chazar)
T
he recent oil spill at the Offshore Northwest Java (ONWJ) Block, operated by state energy giant Pertamina, came at a time when the country’s largest oil and gas block operator is struggling to catch up with government production targets, creating tension between public institutions managing domestic oil and gas resources.
A well within Pertamina’s ONWJ oil and gas block, the reactivated YYA-1, began releasing gas that was then followed by an oil spill on July 12 after a well kick incident. At least 10 villages and marine life have been affected.
Pertamina has a lot of work to do and should treat the oil spill incident as a serious lesson, Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Task Force (SKK Migas) chairman Dwi Soetjipto said Monday.
“We hope that the management of Pertamina can focus on improving its performance,” Dwi told the press on Monday. “Many things should be fixed.”
Pertamina’s upstream unit Pertamina Hulu Energi (PHE), which operated the ONWJ block, is trying to close down YYA-1 well, which has the capacity to produce 3,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd). Although the number is small relative to other blocks in the country, it will further drag down Pertamina’s low productivity issue that has been highlighted by the government.
Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Ignasius Jonan took to Instagram to criticize Pertamina’s capacity in managing oil and gas blocks, saying: “Many of the blocks operated by Pertamina lately have shown a significant decline in production.”
Dwi said the oil and gas regulator had also been “scolded” many times by Minister Jonan for the poor realization of ready-to-sell production targets, called oil lifting.
