Sugeng Suparwoto, Deputy Chair of Commission XII of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI), expressed support for efforts to increase domestic crude oil and natural gas production, known as lifting, to strengthen energy security while reducing dependence on imports.

“Indonesia must discover new oil and gas reserves as a step toward increasing oil production,” Sugeng said during a discussion of the book Senjakala Migas? Migas dan Pembangunan Indonesia 1899–2023 and an Energy Governance Seminar at the Faculty of Administrative Sciences (FIA), University of Indonesia, Depok, West Java, on Wednesday, October 7, 2026.

He stated that policies must be established to support national energy independence and self-sufficiency.

“Indonesia is currently still a natural gas exporter, but we are an importer of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG),” he said.

He added that Commission XII of the DPR RI is currently drafting a new Oil and Gas Law that would establish a Special Oil and Gas Business Entity (Badan Usaha Khusus or BUK Migas), in accordance with the mandate of the Constitutional Court (MK), covering both state control and commercial management of the sector.

“In addition, Indonesia needs to establish a Petroleum Fund to build reserves for future generations using revenue from the oil and gas sector,” he said.

Meanwhile, at the same event, M. Kholid Syeirozi, a member of the National Energy Council (DEN), said that improvements in upstream oil and gas governance are needed to increase national production.

“It is known that Indonesia’s proven oil reserves stood at just 2.3 billion barrels as of 2025. Meanwhile, Indonesia’s hydrocarbon potential includes 128 sedimentary basins, of which 68 have not yet been explored. Only 20 basins currently support national oil and gas production,” he said.

Proven reserves refer to the quantity of oil that, based on geological data, has a high degree of certainty of being recoverable and economically producible.

Meanwhile, Professor Eko Prasojo of the Faculty of Administrative Sciences at the University of Indonesia said that, from the outset, policymaking in all sectors, including oil and gas, must take implementation into account to prevent failure by design.

He emphasized that prosperous nations are built on two key foundations: sound policies and good governance.

Previously, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Bahlil Lahadalia set a target to increase crude oil production to 612,500 barrels per day in 2027, up from the 2026 target of 610,000 barrels per day.

“We have agreed to set the oil production target at 612,500 barrels per day,” Minister Bahlil said after a working meeting with Commission XII of the DPR RI at the Senayan Parliamentary Complex in Jakarta on Monday, August 31, 2026.

He stated that additional oil wells would be developed in several regions in 2027. One of these is an oil well in the Madura region, which will be developed by Petronas, Malaysia’s state-owned oil, gas, and energy company.

In addition, oil production is expected to increase through wells using Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) technology.