Illegal Oil Tapping Makes Chevron Loss Up to Tens of Billion

News24xx.com - Illegal tapping is a practice that is still rampant, with methods used to steal oil becoming more and more sophisticated. Oil theft has cost a lot of oil and gas cooperation contractors, including Chevron Pacific Indonesia.

Chevron Indonesia's president director Albert Simanjuntak reported a loss of IDR 23 billion due to oil theft last year.

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"That's just a rough calculation [from the budget needed] to repair holes in our pipes. There are several cases of illegal wiretapping that caused oil spills," he said at a hearing with the House of Representatives Commission VII in Jakarta on Monday, January 20.

Throughout 2019, he said, there were at least 72 cases of illegal tapping, 55 of which were successfully intervened.

The method used in illegal tapping is becoming more sophisticated. Albert cited a case in 2019 where thieves dug tunnels 100 meters from inside houses they bought from local residents.

Albert said that Chevron continued to work closely with the Riau Police and the TNI Army to curb the crime.

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Meanwhile, Pertamina EP president director Nanang Abdul Manaf said illegal drilling took place in a number of the company's operational areas. Illegal practices are carried out by residents who live near the company's operational areas, without understanding the dangers.

"They think it's the same as digging for water, when in fact [drilling] can create sparks that will lead to explosions," he said.

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