Indonesian President Joko Widodo issued a statement at the Presidential Palace on Thursday (November 16) stating that US oil giant ExxonMobil plans to invest up to $15 billion in Indonesia, mainly for petrochemical projects and carbon capture and storage (CCS) facilities.
President Zoko met with ExxonMobil Chairman Darren Woods during his trip to San Francisco for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.
On Tuesday, the Indonesian Maritime and Investment Coordination Department announced in a statement that it had signed a preliminary agreement with a subsidiary of ExxonMobil to explore investing in a petrochemical project for polymer production in Indonesia.
In addition, ExxonMobil has signed an agreement with Pertamina to evaluate an investment of $2 billion in CCS facilities in two underground basins in the Java Sea.
These agreements were all made during the meeting between Zoko and US President Biden during his visit to Washington before the APEC meeting.
Vigorously promote decarbonization
Indonesian National Petroleum Corporation stated that the CCS center will have the potential to store at least 3 billion tons of carbon dioxide emitted by industries in Indonesia and neighboring countries. It is reported that the CCS facility in this plan will be the largest project in the entire Southeast Asian region.
These large-scale cooperation opportunities may significantly drive industrial growth and decarbonization in Indonesia and even the Asia Pacific region, "said Carole Gall, President of ExxonMobil Indonesia
While conducting its own carbon storage projects, Indonesia is also finalizing a regulation that will open up storage plans and allow foreign carbon storage to be stored in the country.
It is worth mentioning that in September this year, Indonesian Minister of Maritime and Investment Coordination, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, stated that Indonesia is ready to become an important component of global CCS technology investment.
According to his introduction at the time, Indonesia's carbon storage potential was estimated to be 400 billion tons. He also added, "Such enormous potential can bring significant business and investment opportunities to the country