BP Tangguh Ready to Absorb 5,000 Workers for Carbon Capture Project

TELUK BINTUNI, KOMPAS - The multinational oil and gas company Bp Indonesia will employ 5,000 workers to develop the Tangguh Ubadari project, Carbon Capture Utilization & Storage/CCUS, and Compression or UCC in Teluk Bintuni, West Papua. The significant labor demand is to support the implementation of the large-scale carbon capture and injection project, the first of its kind in Indonesia.

"In that project, there will be 5,000 (workers), that is at its peak," said Head of Country Bp Indonesia, Hardi Hanafiah, to reporters at the Bp Tangguh site, Bintuni, Tuesday (10/6/2025).

The total workforce requirement is five times the number of operational workers currently working at the Tangguh project, which is also a liquefied natural gas (LNG) processing location.

The construction workers are planned to start working on the project in December 2025. They will be accommodated in residences that are currently still under construction in the early works phase of the project.

"After the early works, now we will start two projects, namely offshore or the platform and onshore related to the facilities. Our target is to complete it in the first quarter of 2028," explained Hardi.

He explained that the UCC project has three objectives, namely building a carbon capture system or CCUS, EGR (Enhanced Gas Recovery) application to inject CO2 gas obtained from the Tangguh LNG processing plant or refinery, and ensuring an increase in LNG production capacity.

The project, whose investment decision was finally completed in November 2024 with an investment value of 7 billion or equivalent to Rp111.3 trillion, will have a CO2 storage capacity of around 1.8 Gigatons and in the initial phase will inject around 15 million tons of CO2 from emissions from the Tangguh LNG operating facility. The operation of this project is targeted by Bp Indonesia to add 3 trillion cubic feet (TFC) of LNG to their production.

The CCS project being undertaken by Bp Indonesia is expected to be implemented by more contractors in the oil and gas cooperation contracts (KKKS) in Indonesia. CCS not only serves as a strategy to reduce CO2 emissions that contribute to global warming but also functions to enhance domestic oil and gas production.

The Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Bahlil Lahadalia, at the 49th Indonesian Petroleum Association (IPA Convex) Convention and Exhibition in ICE BSD Tangerang, Wednesday (21/5/2025), stated that the Indonesian government is simplifying various policies to support this project.

One of them is to provide ease for investors. This ease is regulated by the establishment of Presidential Regulation (Perpres) Number 14 of 2024 concerning the Implementation of Carbon Capture and Storage Activities and Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Regulation (Permen) Number 2 of 2023 concerning the Implementation of Carbon Capture and Storage, as well as Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage in Upstream Oil and Gas Business Activities.

"We have made the rules and I offer them to all of you. Please come in. The sooner, the better. We will give a little sweetener relaxation (stimulus). But if it's already booming, then come in, the sweetener won't be as good as it is now," said Bahlil.

Citing a release from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, from 2021 to 2024, the government has also issued 30 data utilization permits to 12 contractors to support the implementation of CCS and Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) studies in various regions of Indonesia.

The study encompasses 19 strategic locations, including Arun Field, Corridor, Sakakemang, Betung, Ramba, Asri Basin, ONWJ, Jatibarang, Gundih, Sukowati, Abadi, CSB, Gemah, South Natuna Sea Block B, East Kalimantan, Refinery Unit V Balikpapan, Blue Ammonia, Donggi Matindok, and the Tangguh Field in Bintuni, Papua.

Indonesia is a country with the largest carbon capture storage potential in the Asia-Pacific region, with a potential reaching 572.77 gigatons for saline aquifers and 4.85 gigatons in depleted reservoirs.

"Currently, the world is always thinking about building industrialization with a green energy and green industry approach. One of the ways to achieve this is by capturing carbon capture, CO2," said Bahlil.