According to data from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (Kementerian ESDM), in 2011 Indonesia had proven natural gas reserves of 104.71 trillion square cubic feet (TSCF).
However, these reserves decreased significantly from 2019, falling to only 41.62 TSCF by 2021.
The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources stated that this significant decrease was partly influenced by the updated standard for calculating natural gas reserves, namely the Petroleum Resources Management System (PRMS), which was updated in 2018 and implemented in Indonesia starting in 2019.
"The change in reserve classification calculations based on PRMS 2018, where fields without production activities (not exploited) had their reserve status reclassified as contingent and unrecoverable," stated the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources in its 2019 Oil and Gas Statistics report.
The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources also stated that in 2019 there was a decrease in contractor reserves due to recalculation or the availability of other new supporting data.
Recently, in October 2022, the Pertamina EP Regional 4 Zone 11 Contractor Contract Partner (KKKS) discovered new gas reserves in the Cepu Block, Banyu Urip Field, Bojonegoro Regency, East Java.
Acting Head of the SKK Migas Program and Communication Division, Mohammad Kemal, said that SKK Migas and Pertamina EP are currently conducting evaluations and tests to determine the gas content from that location.
"The team is still working to monitor gas flow volume and clean up the drilling location. This reserve discovery is a collaboration of all parties to remain committed to exploration to increase national oil and gas production," said Kemal in his press release on Sunday (23/10/2022).
SKK Migas and KKKS also stated that they are continuing to conduct massive, aggressive, and efficient exploration to achieve the target of 1 million barrels of oil production and 12 billion standard cubic feet per day (BSCFD) of gas production by 2030.