REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, PEKANBARU -- President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) hopes that PT Pertamina is not alone in managing the Rokan Block in Riau Province. He said that to encourage local government to take their part.

"Do not let me hear that there are reports, the regions cannot do anything," President Jokowi said when he received a customary title at the Riau Malay Customary Institution in Pekanbaru on Saturday.

The Indonesian government recently decided that PT Chevron Pacific Indonesia (CPI), the contract was not extended as the manager of the largest oil block in Indonesia in 2021. He reiterated that the Rokan block is 100 percent to Pertamina.

Also read: Pertamina to take over Rokan Block operation

Jokowi said that he initially did not know that the Rokan Block was in Riau. According to him, the Riau Malay Customary Institution was one of the parties he heard to find out about the Rokan Block, that the natural resources should be fully held by Indonesia.

PT CPI has been managing the Rokan Block for too long in Riau, which is around 90 years. Because of this, he asked Pertamina as the new manager and not ignore the potential of the region.

"Don't manage it (Pertamina) yourself, involve the name of the region as much as possible if the region is capable. HR (human resources) and mechanisms will soon be arranged," he said.

At present the Rokan Block is said to have 500 million to 1.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent oil reserves. The oil and gas block area reaches 6,220 kilometers with 96 oil fields including Duri, Minas and Bekasap.

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