Supporting Government to Reduce Emissions, Pertamina Cooperates with ExxonMobil to Develop Low Carbon Technology

Jakarta, November 2, 2021 - In line with President Joko Widodo's direction to transform businesses towards a green economy, Pertamina is pursuing the Government's target of reducing 29% Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions by 2030 with its own efforts and 41% with international assistance.

With that spirit, the Ministry of SOEs has also introduced a sustainable policy, namely "Eco Lifestyle," The policy aims to create a better place for the future generation of Indonesia through green energy initiatives.

To support this step, the Ministry of SOEs encourages Pertamina to collaborate with various parties. It includes global companies in the development of Carbon Capture and Utilization and Storage/CCUS technology.

"This CCUS collaboration is an important partnership to reduce the effect of greenhouse gases and increase the national oil gas production capacity," said Minister of SOE Erick Thohir.

The Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Panjaitan, appreciated and supported these efforts by encouraging cooperation between Pertamina and ExxonMobil in the application of low-carbon technology and CCUS. This collaboration will strengthen the sustainable strategic partnership between Pertamina and ExxonMobil, which has existed since the 1970s in the upstream sector and the downstream sector.

"The opportunities that the two companies are evaluating in Indonesia, coupled with the right government policies and industry collaboration, will have the potential to make the greatest impact in the highest-emitting sectors not just in Indonesia but also in Southeast Asia," he said.

Coordinating Minister Luhut emphasized that with global climate change, it is important to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Therefore, it can overcome the increase in global temperature to not exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius.

In terms of reducing emissions, in the upstream sector, Pertamina has initiated several CCUS projects in the oil and gas field with the potential to reduce carbon dioxide up to 18 million tons. One of the CCUS technology developments was carried out at Gundih Field, Cepu, Central Java, which is integrated with Enhanced Gas Recovery (EGR) technology and has the potential to reduce around 3 million tons of CO2 in 10 years and increase oil and gas production. The project is planned to be operational in 2026.

"The application of CCUS technology is part of Pertamina's energy transition to clean energy agenda. This low-carbon technology will support Pertamina's business sustainability in the future," said President Director of PT Pertamina (Persero) Nicke Widyawati.

The challenge in developing CCUS lies in the large investment value and the economic value that is not yet ideal. In responding to this challenge, Pertamina continues to synergize and cooperate with various world oil and gas companies to accelerate CCUS implementation through technology transfer, joint development, and increased capacity building.

Together with ExxonMobil, Pertamina will develop the application of low-carbon technology to achieve net-zero emissions in promoting global climate goals. CCS technology is applied through the application of a CO2 injection process into the subsurface layer. It is to be applied to depleted reservoirs in Pertamina's working area, as well as assessing the potential for hubs and cluster schemes.

Pertamina and ExxonMobil will also review the sharing of technical subsurface data needed for the assessment of subsurface formation as a place to store CO2 and its characteristics at certain locations in Indonesia. The two companies will also review the sharing of infrastructure data including, pipelines, facilities, and wells data, to evaluate the reuse of existing infrastructure for transportation.

The application of this technology can also be applied to the production of blue hydrogen in combination with CCS technology. Another application that will be studied is CCUS, namely the use of CO2, which will be converted into value-added products whose application is carried out in the upstream and downstream oil and gas industries.

Therefore, President Director of Pertamina, Nicke Widyawati, and President of ExxonMobil Indonesia, Irtiza H. Sayyed, have signed a memorandum of understanding witnessed by the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment of the Republic of Indonesia, Luhut Binsar Panjaitan, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto, Minister of SOEs Erick Thohir, and Deputy Minister SOE, Pahala N. Mansury, and Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Arifin Tasrif, Monday (1/11) at the United Nations Climate Change Summit in Glasgow, Scotland, taking place November 1-10, 2021.