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View all search resultsAnalysis: Can Hashim’s group succeed in Indonesia’s toughest gas block?
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Special Presidential Envoy on Energy and Climate Change Hashim Djojohadikusumo (left) slices a 'tumpeng' (rice cone) on Nov. 10 during the opening ceremony of the Indonesian Pavilion at the United Nations climate change conference (COP30) in Belém, Brazil.
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T Nations Petroleum, an oil and gas company linked to businessman Hashim Djojohadikusumo, President Prabowo Subianto’s younger brother and special climate and energy envoy, has committed US$103.3 million to three years of work on the Natuna D-Alpha block, prompting questions over why the relatively new player is willing to take on such an ambitious bet.
One of Indonesia’s largest undeveloped gas resources that has eluded development for decades, the block presents formidable technical and commercial challenges, including gas containing more than 70 percent carbon dioxide (CO2).
The scale of Nations Petroleum’s commitment is striking, not only because of the block’s complexity but also because the company lacks the track record of the major international oil companies that have previously sought to develop it.
Industry players describe Nations Petroleum as a new and unproven player that would likely need a major international partner to provide the technology and financing required to develop D-Alpha. This raises questions about the company’s financial and technical capacity to take on the block, as well as speculation over why it is willing to commit so much to a project that has defeated previous development attempts.
The block’s history dates back to 1980, when Pertamina and ExxonMobil subsidiary Esso Natuna signed a production sharing contract (PSC). Pertamina and Esso Natuna initially held equal 50 percent shares but in 1996, Pertamina transferred a 26 percent interest to ExxonMobil’s Mobil Natuna, leaving the United States major with a 76 percent stake and Pertamina with 24 percent.
The contract was eventually terminated after the contractor failed to submit a feasibility study demonstrating D-Alpha’s commercial viability per the agreed deadline.
The government handed responsibility for the block to Pertamina in 2008, seeking to revive its development with international partners. In 2010, Pertamina formed a consortium with ExxonMobil, France’s Total and Malaysia’s Petronas.
