Jakarta. The Indonesian government has set an ambitious target to increase crude oil production to between 900,000 and 1 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2028, aiming to restore output levels last seen nearly three decades ago when the country was a key member of OPEC, a senior official said on Thursday.

Indonesia’s current oil production stands at approximately 600,000 bpd, while the country imports nearly 1 million bpd to meet domestic demand.

"This is an upside-down situation compared to 1997-98, when we exported 1 million bpd while domestic consumption was only 600,000 bpd," Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia said at the Outlook 2025 seminar hosted by Beritasatu, a sister publication of the Jakarta Globe, at the Westin Hotel in Jakarta.

"President Prabowo Subianto has instructed us to boost oil production to between 900,000 and 1 million bpd within the next three to four years. This won't be easy, but we must not give up," he added.

A key strategy to achieve this target is the reactivation of idle oil wells across the country, Bahlil explained.

"Since 1997, our oil production has been on a steady decline, except for a brief uptick in 2008," he said. "We have over 40,000 oil wells, but most of them are idle -- only around 16,000 wells are currently active."

Earlier this week, Bahlil also announced that nearly half of Indonesia’s projected crude oil exports -- approximately 28 million barrels -- will be redirected to the domestic refining industry as part of the country’s broader energy security strategy.

"In line with President Prabowo’s directives, we have instructed domestic refineries to absorb all available crude oil, including lower-grade output that was previously rejected, to reduce dependence on exports," he said.

Indonesia’s major refineries in Balikpapan, Cilacap, and Dumai are now capable of processing a wider range of crude oil, including lower-quality varieties. In addition, the government is fast-tracking the construction of new refineries in Tuban and Balongan to further enhance domestic refining capacity in the coming years.

As part of this initiative, up to 13 million barrels of crude oil, originally designated for export, will be redirected to local refineries to strengthen domestic fuel supply and reduce reliance on imports.

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