Indonesia’s Oldest Oil Giant Rejuvenated as First Commercial ‘Chemical EOR’ Site

PEKANBARU, Investortrust.id — In a bid to reverse decades of declining output, Indonesia has officially inaugurated its first large-scale commercial application of Chemical Enhanced Oil Recovery (CEOR) technology at the historic Minas Field.

The project, led by Pertamina Hulu Rokan (PHR), a subsidiary of the state energy giant Pertamina, represents a high-stakes technological gamble on the Rokan Block, once the crown jewel of Indonesia’s oil industry. By injecting a sophisticated "chemical cocktail" into the earth, engineers hope to extract trapped crude that traditional drilling methods can no longer reach.

"Minas is a mature field that has been producing since 1952," said Djoko Siswanto, Head of SKK Migas, Indonesia's upstream regulator, during the ceremony on Tuesday. "Its survival depends entirely on innovation. Today marks a turning point as we deploy Chemical EOR Phase I to stabilize and boost our national energy sovereignty."

The 1 Million Barrel Ambition

The inauguration comes as Indonesia faces an urgent need to close the gap between domestic consumption and plummeting production. President Prabowo Subianto has set an ambitious target of reaching 1 million barrels of oil per day (BOPD) by 2030.

The CEOR project at Minas is central to this goal. Pertamina estimates the technology will increase the field's recovery factor by 12% to 16%.

Immediate production is expected to rise by 2,800 barrels per day. By 2030, CEOR is projected to contribute 70,000 BOPD, with a peak target of 200,000 BOPD by 2036.

Homegrown Chemistry

A key point of national pride for the administration is the "surfactant" used in the process—a chemical that acts like soap to wash oil out of porous rock. Pertamina officials highlighted that the formula was developed internally by the company's own researchers after previous efforts using foreign technology faced hurdles.

"Our ‘Perwira’ (Pertamina officers) have developed their own formula," said Mochamad Iriawan, Pertamina’s President Commissioner. "This is a testament to our self-reliance as we chase energy independence."

The Minas Field currently produces about 29,000 BOPD of Sumatra Light Crude. If successful in this first "Stage-1 Area-A" phase, Pertamina plans to scale the technology across the wider Rokan Block, including the Balam and Bangko fields, potentially unlocking up to 800 million barrels of additional reserves over the coming decades.

Minas Field: Indonesia’s Oldest Oil Giant

The Minas Field, located in the Rokan Block of Central Sumatra, is the cornerstone of Indonesia’s energy history. Discovered in 1944 and entering commercial production in 1952, it became the most prolific oil discovery in Southeast Asia, yielding over 4.5 billion barrels of premium "Sumatra Light Crude" to date.

Once the primary engine of the Indonesian economy—with a peak output exceeding 400,000 barrels per day in the 1970s—Minas is now classified as a "mature" field. However, it remains a strategic priority for the nation. As the site of Indonesia’s first commercial-scale Chemical Enhanced Oil Recovery (CEOR) project, Minas is currently undergoing a high-tech rejuvenation.

By using advanced chemical injection to extract previously unreachable reserves, the field is at the heart of President Prabowo’s strategy to achieve national energy independence and reach a production target of 1 million barrels per day by 2030.