Figure 1. Benny Lubiantara (SKK MIGAS) gave a presentation on how to enhance oil recovery (EOR) to minimize the gap between production and consumption of oil and gas
The difference between oil production and oil consumption is getting more widen and it can be reduced by increasing oil production. Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) was acknowledged as one of the solutions to this problem. However, the implementations of EOR in Indonesia faced many issues and in order to solve this problem, the potential had to be maximized. On 27 March 2019, this topic was discussed in the Indonesia EOR Forum Workshop which was held by the Society of Indonesian Petroleum Engineers (IATMI) in Jakarta. This forum invited several panelists such as Benny Lubiantara (SKK MIGAS), Andi W. Bachtiar (Pertamina EP), Prof. Pudji Permadi (ITB), Letty Brioletty (Lemigas) and Puti Permata (Medco).
Benny Lubiantara mentioned that 10% of national oil production was obtained by applying EOR. However, the development of EOR in Indonesia is facing many challenges such as fast return investment and a few oil companies would only focus on short term projects. An EOR project could be maximize if the oil company had a long time project. In the second session, Andi W. Bachtiar presented the development of Pertamina EP’s EOR project. The oil production of Pertamina would reach its peaks in 2026 through water injection and in 2030 through its tertiary recovery.
Prof. Pudji Permadi shared the outcome of his research by introducing crops waste and palm oil as options for EOR’s surfactant. However, according to Letty Brioletty, Lemigas identified that the used of palm oil as surfactant was insignificant to maximize the production in some oil fields (e.g., Ledok Field). Also, she highlighted that the development of EOR in Indonesia must be well integrated. Also, researchers must focus on finishing their task one by one. The chemical analysis of EOR was an iteration process that requires analysis for every situation. As the final session, Puty Permata showed how Medco had successfully performed an EOR pilot project on their concessions. She underlined how perseverance and positive mindset of every sector were essential even though it took quite some time to obtain a good result.
