JAKARTA. The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) established a research collaboration with PT Petrokimia Gresik, a subsidiary of PT Pupuk Indonesia (Persero), to develop and produce surfactants.
Dadan Kusdiana, Head of the Research and Development Agency of the Ministry of ESDM, said that the surfactants could later be used in oil production with Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) technology. "This strategic research collaboration is expected to be carried out immediately," Kusdiana said through an official statement.
Meanwhile, Usman Pasarai, Research Coordinator at the Oil and Gas Institute, explained that surfactants can release oil trapped in rocks in advanced wells. This was tried in Jirak Field, owned by PT Pertamina EP.
According to the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Indonesia's oil reserves that can be lifted using EOR technology reached 4.6 billion stock tank barrels (STB) in 2015. (KR/AR)