Curbing illegal oil mining in Musi Banyuasin regency, is causing a dilemma for the local authorities. On one hand, they give livelihood to the miners. However, on the other hand, it causes pollution and life-threatening.
By
RHAMA PURNA JATI
·5 minutes read
KOMPAS/RHAMA PURNA JATI
A woman carries crude oil with a bucket in an illegal mining area in Keluang Village, Keluang District, Musi Banyuasin Regency, South Sumatra, Friday (16/9/2022)..
The absence of a legal umbrella and a high demand for crude oil have caused illegal oil mining to continue to grow in Musi Banyuasin regency, South Sumatra, or commonly called Muba.
On Friday (16/9/2022), Hendriansyah (29) was busy lifting jerry cans filled with jet black crude oil that he had just collected from the area of the former oil well in Keluang Village, Keluang District, Musi Banyuasin regency, South Sumatra. From each jerry can containing 20 kilograms of crude oil he can earn Rp 50,000 (US$3.50).
On Wednesday (14/9), jet black crude oil gushed as high as 15 meters at the residents' rubber plantations. Two days later, the oil spray stopped after the hole was covered. However, traces of oil were visible around the hole. The crude oil was then collected and stored in several artificial ponds made from tarpaulins and some were put into tanks.
Hundreds of residents collected the "black gold" from puddles of oil in a number of places. The smell of gas coming from the oil hole did not discourage them. In fact, some residents smoked unconcernedly in the area.
This time, according to Hendriansyah, the burst of crude oil was the largest in the region. In two days, Hendriansyah earned around Rp 1 million ($67) from the sales of the crude oil.
Ari Pratama (32), a resident of Palembang, was even willing to go as far as 121 kilometers to extract the remaining oil from the blast. "In this oil refinery, the price is around Rp 70,000 ($4.6) per jerry can," said Ari while carrying a bucket of crude oil.
Tradition
Keluang community leader, Amir Syarifuddin, said illegal oil mining had been going on since 2015 and began to increase in 2017. Traditional mining knowledge was obtained from residents of Sungai Agit, Babat Toman District, and residents of Keban, Sanga Desa District, who came to Keluang.
The location has become a target for oil miners because before it became a residential and plantation area, Keluang was a former oil exploration area of state-owned oil company Pertamina, which is no longer active. People who want to mine also need a lot of capital. That is why some interpret Keluang as “perhaps there is money.”
"Keluang has been an oil mining area even since the colonial period," said Amir.
KOMPAS/RHAMA PURNA JATI
The condition of soil contaminated with oil from illegal mining in Keluang Village, Keluang District, Musi Banyuasin Regency, South Sumatra, Friday (16/9/2022).
It needs at least Rp 300 million ($20.000) to run. Residents generally form a partnership to develop an oil well. The oil production is divided according to the amount of their contribution. The search for mine locations is also based on estimates. Some of the residents have spent hundreds of millions to mine, but have not found oil.
"It is quite risky. However, if you get oil, the profit can be more than double," said Amir, who was elected as head of the Keluang subdistrict for the 2016-2018 period.
Mining workers were recruited from various areas in Muba, even as far as Lampung. As in the case of an oil spill at the illegal mine, the Musi Banyuasin Police arrested three mining workers, one of whom was RB, a resident of Lampung.
RB said that he went to Keluang because there was an offer to mine for oil. “The plan was to open seven mining pits. However, only one hole sprayed oil,” he said.
RB and his two colleagues, KY and EC, initially planned to drill a hole as deep as 300 meters. However, when it only reached 120 m, the oil began to spray.
RB earned Rp 35,000 ($2.30) a meter of the hole he drilled. The police confiscated a number of evidence, such as drill bits, rigs and pipes to distribute oil.
Law enforcement
The head of the Musi Banyuasin Police office, Adjunct Senior Commissioner Siswandi, said that after naming three workers as suspects, the local police will look for investors and land owners. He admitted that it is very difficult to stop illegal mining because it affects the livelihood of residents. Moreover, mining activities are carried out in the local people's land. "However, the law must be enforced," he said.
The three suspects were charged with Article 52 of Law Number 22 of 2001 concerning oil and gas. The penalty can be six years in prison and a fine of Rp 60 billion ($4 million).
The acting regent of Musi Banyuasin Apriyadi said that there is no clear legal umbrella regarding the people’s activities in illegal oil mines. Therefore, he called for the revision of the Ministerial Regulation (Permen) of Energy and Mineral Resources No. 1 of 2008 concerning the operation of oil wells so that people can be allowed to legally search for oil in former oil wells. Apriyadi said the production from illegal mining activities was quite large; from 7,734 illegal oil wells the production can reach 5,000 barrels per day.
However, illegal mining hurts the source of local revenues of the Musi Banyuasin regency government due to loss of potential taxes. Illegal miners are estimated to earn Rp 1.5 trillion ($100 million) per year from the sales of 5,000 barrels per day at a price of $60 per barrel.
The head of the representative office of the Special Task Force for Upstream Oil and Gas Business Activities (SKK Migas) in South Sumatera, Anggono Mahendrawan, said that his office could not do much because his authority is limited. Most of the illegal oil mining activities take place outside the working area of the existing oil contractors (KKKS). The illegal mining activities usually occur on the land of local residents, such as plantations and forest areas.
/https%3A%2F%2Fasset.kgnewsroom.com%2Fphoto%2Fpre%2F2022%2F09%2F16%2F9ee4bbf2-52d4-42ca-9d90-3089645fe8dd_jpg.jpg){kind=logo}
/https%3A%2F%2Fasset.kgnewsroom.com%2Fphoto%2Fpre%2F2022%2F09%2F16%2Fe8840ef4-2e51-41fe-84a1-f0b390684d21_jpg.jpg){kind=logo}
