WRITING AN ESSAY

SUBJECT ENGLISH II

By :
Jovi Irwanto Pasaribu
Class G
270110150033

FAKULTAS TEKNIK GEOLOGI

UNIVERSITAS PADJADJARAN

JATINANGOR KABUPATEN SUMEDANG

 Petroleum Exploration In Indonesia

Energy is the primary human need that becomes the main driver of life activity and the
wheel of the country's economy. Indonesia as a country with a rich of abundant energy resources
is deservedly enjoying what is called national energy security. Every element of the nation should
be guaranteed for the fulfillment of its energy needs. To ensure the fulfillment of energy needs in
order to achieve energy sovereignty, the exploitation and development of energy resources in all
areas becomes a very urgent thing to do. Increased economic growth and population with various
factors become the main factor of energy requirement. Indonesia since 2005 recorded growth in
energy consumption up to 7 percent per year. Increasing energy demand requires sustainable
energy availability. Therefore, the fulfillment of energy becomes the most important issue
considering Indonesia is a country with enormous potential in the energy field.

As an archipelagic country, Indonesia has mineral resources spread throughout the region.
According to data from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, the potential of metallic
mineral resources and reserves in Indonesia is spread over 437 locations. The search for petroleum
sources began in 1885 and the peak was in 1966 where Indonesia started the era of massive oil
exploration. The Indonesian government at that time introduced the concept of a production
sharing contract that attracted many foreign investors. The peak in 1977 Indonesia was in the
heyday of the oil and gas industry with production achievements of up to 1.69 million barrels of
oil per day at which time the domestic oil demand was only about 250,000 barrels so that Indonesia
was able to export large quantities of oil and the oil and gas industry became the main driver of
the economy national at the time. Besides petroleum, natural gas and coal production also become
the main support for the fulfillment of the nation's energy needs. But now the situation is very
much different from the fact that as a country with a rich of natural resources abundant in
Indonesia, ironically it is loyal to label itself as a country who experiencing a sustainable energy
crisis.

Since 2004, the heyday of Indonesia's oil and gas industry has ended. Based on data from
the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, the need for oil and gas is around 2.2 million barrels
per day, of which 1.4 million barrels of which is the demand for petroleum, while Indonesia's oil
production is only around 900,000 barrels per day. In other words, Indonesia lacks 500,000 barrels
of oil per day. To cover the shortfall, Indonesia eventually became a petroleum importer country,
which had a very significant impact on the national economic capability and the government still
bear the enormous burden of subsidies.

Indonesia's enormous energy crisis is influenced by inappropriate government policies in

the energy sector. National energy policy has not encouraged the acceleration of national
independence and energy security. Not to mention the liberalization of energy that increasingly
threatens national energy security. Current energy governance relies heavily on foreign capital so
as to make foreign positions stronger in the process of controlling and exploiting energy resources
in Indonesia. Even energy liberalization is self-authorized by the government through Law No. 4
of 2009 on minerals and coal and Law No. 22 of 2001 on oil and gas. The most obvious evidence
of foreign power is the number of sources of energy controlled by foreign companies. Based on
data from Indonesian Resources Studies, Pertamina is known to produce only 15 percent of total
oil and gas production and 85 percent of the rest is produced by foreigners.

Pertamina is no longer in control of oil and gas trade monopoly instead it must compete
with foreign companies to be able to manage oil and gas in their own country. Not only petroleum
production, coal production is also estimated to be 70 percent under foreign control. With the fall
of production to foreign hands, the practical advantages of exploitation of Indonesia's energy
sources flow into foreign pockets. In other words, it can be said that the energy rich in the land
itself does not contribute significantly to the improvement of people's welfare. The worse impact
of this situation is that Indonesia is increasingly relying on oil imports (BBM).

The most obvious and immediate example is the problem of gas and coal. Gas and coal
should no longer be used as commodities but are used for the development of domestic industries.
This is important because the facts behind the energy crisis that is currently the main problem,
Indonesia as one of the largest coal and gas producers in the world actually sells its products
cheaply to various countries. No less than 52 percent is exported whereas if managed for the
national interest, that amount will contribute sufficiently to the national energy supply.

Restoration of state control over the management of energy rich can be pursued through
nationalization by buying back shares of the company or by renegotiation. The government can
also restore the expert of oil and gas experts who devote themselves abroad to serve their own
nation, among others through the provision of salary and a decent life insurance. In addition, the
key concepts or targets and targets for enforcement of policies in the energy sector need to be
justified.

Last, the solution that will make the most significant contribution is the development of
energy sources other than oil. Oil can no longer be relied upon as a major source of domestic
energy needs. Indonesia's energy consumption is almost 95 percent dominated by fossil fuels
where 50 percent is fuel oil. Though Indonesia currently only has oil reserves of 9 billion barrels
or less than 1 percent of world oil production. Despite reaching 9 billion barrels, given the fact that
the average oil production of Indonesia reaches half a billion barrels per year, the reserves will
only last less than twenty years into the future. Secondary energy sources such as coal and natural
gas can no longer be relied upon. Indonesia's coal reserves currently reach 21 billion tons, but with
annual production reaching 353 million tons, Indonesia's coal reserves will be depleted in less than
60 years. Similar to coal, natural gas is also contained in relatively large amounts compared to
petroleum which is 25.5 billion barrels. But with annual production reaching 800 million barrels,
the reserves will be exhausted within 30 years. Under these circumstances, it is not wise for the
government to make oil and gas and coal as the main energy source. It is time for Indonesia to
transform energy in order to achieve national energy security. Energy transformation means the
transfer of primary energy resources to the non oil and gas sector and coal through the development
of the concept of energy diversification. Energy diversification refers to the development of all
available energy potentials. As a country on the equator, above the volcano path and as a maritime
country flanked by two oceans, Indonesia is endowed with a rich of energy resources. Some
potential alternative energy resources to be developed for massive exploitation and use in the near
future are water resources or ocean energy, wind energy, solar energy, bio-based energy and
geothermal or geothermal energy. Data from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources states
that Indonesia has a potential water energy of 450 MW, solar energy of 4.80 kWH / m2 / day with
irradiation throughout the year, wind energy with an average speed of 3-6 m / s, and the largest
and is the world's largest geothermal potential that reaches 28,100 MW or reaches 40 percent of
the total potential of the world. So far, the new utilized around 1,100 MW or about 4.3 percent.

This amount will significantly reduce dependence on petroleum and can save energy use
of oil up to 58 million barrels per year. Geothermal energy is also one of several renewable energy
sources that can provide electricity continuously with little negative impact on the environment.
This energy source also does not emit greenhouse gases that affect global warming. Geothermal
energy generation does not require fuel to generate electricity so emissions levels are very low.
Sharing these advantages underlines how potential geothermal energy to develop as a primary
energy source along with water, wind and solar energy sources. In addition to these four sources
of energy, sustainable biofuel development is also one of the very potential in covering the national
need for energy. To make sure that the development of energy resources sharing is going well,
support from all parties, especially the government is needed. Such support is the provision of
infrastructure in the form of tools and modern technology to ensure the efficiency of the
development process. With the achievement of all these things it is expected that Indonesia can
meet the energy needs based on production and management in the country itself and the
Indonesian nation can sovereign energy in their own country.