In 2024, we actually set an initial target of almost US$17 billion. However, our projection to date is at least 15-16 billion US dollars.

Bandung (ANTARA) - The Special Task Force for Upstream Oil and Gas Business Activities (SKK Migas) targets investment in the upstream oil and gas sector to reach US$16.1 billion this year, an increase of around 18 percent from the 2023 realization of US$13.7 billion.

"In 2024 we actually set an initial target of almost 17 billion US dollars. However, our projection to date is at least US$15-16 billion," SKK Migas Deputy for Finance and Commercialization Kurnia Chairi said at the 2024 Natural Gas Forum in Bandung, West Java, Wednesday.

He said investment in the oil and gas sector has experienced an improving trend in line with incentive support by the government, both in the form of fiscal and non-fiscal incentives.

Referring to 2023 data, investment in the oil and gas sector was able to increase by 13 percent to 13.7 billion US dollars amid the transition of the industry from fossil energy to renewable energy.

SKK Migas is optimistic that this performance shows the positive potential of the oil and gas sector.

This potential has made it target the number of drilling activities to reach 799 wells this year from 322 wells in 2019. "This shows that our appetite to invest in upstream oil and gas is still very high," he said.

Previously, Head of Program and Communication Division of the Special Task Force for Upstream Oil and Gas Business Activities (SKK Migas) Hudi D. Suryodipuro said in a statement here on Thursday (13/6) that improvements in the fiscal and taxation systems provided by the government had an impact on increasing the competitiveness value of Indonesia's upstream oil and gas investment from 4.75 in 2020 to 5.30 in early 2024, according to the Standard & Poor's (S&P) International Rating Agency.

Increased investment has a positive impact on exploration activities. The value of upstream oil and gas exploration investment rose from US$0.54 billion in 2020 to US$0.93 billion in 2023. The increase contributed to the discovery of gas resources such as in Geng North and Layaran, which are among the world's five largest discoveries in 2023.

"With these giant discoveries in 2023 and also in 2024 at the Tangkulo-1 well in the South Andaman WK (Working Area) of 2 TCF, SKK Migas is committed to accelerating the on stream process of these discoveries, ensuring that they can immediately contribute to national oil and gas production as soon as possible," he said.

To maintain this positive momentum, SKK Migas continues to evaluate the long-term plan and implement various efforts to accelerate the process.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)