Indonesia is one of those countries where major upstream changes do not normally start with a Memorandum of Understanding. However, the recent cooperation agreement signed between Pertamina and Halliburton is drawing attention primarily due to what it may signify, i.e., not just the use of new technologies. An even greater question is raised about how the country will go about unlocking the next generation of its unconventional resource potential.
Cooperation for upgrading subsurface capabilities
PT Pertamina (Persero), the state-owned energy company for Indonesia, and Halliburton will cooperate with each other using a Cooperation Agreement to help speed up the application of new technology in drilling wells and stimulating wells in select onshore locations throughout Indonesia. The main subject of the Cooperation Agreement is a comprehensive evaluation system of multi-stage hydraulic fracturing, acid stimulation, and advanced cementing services. All three of these technologies are needed to rejuvenate Indonesia’s existing oil and gas reserves.
Pertamina characterized the cooperation as part of its overall plan to transform its upstream business model – a model that will increase the volume of oil lifted domestically, and ensure long-term supply of energy for the country. Additionally, Pertamina’s leadership stated that there remains great potential for many of the mature fields in Indonesia, if the right combinations of technologies, models, and field execution can be implemented. The cooperation agreement demonstrates Pertamina’s strategic vision, bringing together Pertamina’s reservoir expertise with Halliburton’s global experience with unconventional completion technologies.
Additionally, this is a strong indication of how Indonesia plans to compete in regional energy markets: by utilizing technologies to revitalize fields that were previously considered difficult to develop.
More than just fracking and stimulation
In addition to fracking and stimulation, the cooperation agreement includes an assessment of digital and automated technologies, including Closed-loop Automation and AI-driven Drilling and Fracturing Optimization. Like their counterparts in North America, these tools represent a fundamental change in the way companies operate and are now being adopted across Asia-Pacific. In addition to improving efficiency, they have the capability to decrease downtime, increase the accuracy of stimulation treatments, and allow operators to make high-quality decisions in real-time.
Halliburton defined its role within the agreement as “integrating proven unconventional methods with local reservoir insights,” highlighting that Indonesia’s geology is diverse and that, therefore, adaptable, data-driven workflows are needed, rather than standard templates. By linking the automation platforms, such as Remote Operations Systems and Digital Well Planning Suites, with Pertamina’s current field strategies, the parties seek to modernize how wells are drilled and how the impacts of stimulation treatments are evaluated.
The stakes are clearly defined for Indonesia: successful application of these technologies could extend the lives of its aging assets, while providing new paths for unconventional resource development.
Collectively, the Cooperation Agreement serves a larger goal
The agreement reinforces Indonesia’s goal to stabilize national production and reduce the decline rate of its onshore fields — a goal that is becoming increasingly dependent on the utilization of unconventional recovery techniques. The agreement also supports Pertamina’s mission to increase domestic energy resilience, thereby ensuring that Indonesia’s most mature reservoirs will continue to contribute to the nation’s energy supply.
For Halliburton, the engagement further expands its regional unconventional technology portfolio, placing its technologies at the heart of Indonesia’s pursuit of higher-performance completions.
While the agreement was described as a Study/Evaluation Roadmap, it is effectively establishing a foundation for the long-term deployment of integrated fracturing solutions across multiple basins. In a region where unconventional development has historically fallen behind other regions globally, this agreement represents the initiation of a more coordinated and technologically sophisticated approach to developing unconventional resources. The Cooperation between Pertamina and Halliburton represents more than a technical evaluation — it represents Indonesia’s intention to expedite the development of its unconventional resources using advanced fracturing, automation, and stimulation technologies.
