Jakarta. A top brass at the state-run oil giant Pertamina said Wednesday that the company was still waiting for instructions to develop the resource-rich Ambalat Block together with its close neighbor, Malaysia. Once the government gives its nod, the company stands ready to deploy its resources to tap into its abundant oil reserves, according to Edi Karyanto, a director at the upstream sector arm Pertamina Hulu Energi.

Indonesia and Malaysia have had decades-long disagreement over who owns the Ambalat, which lies in the Sulawesi Sea. Last month, both countries agreed to jointly tap into Ambalat’s oil and gas reserves. Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had just had follow-up talks with President Prabowo Subianto in Jakarta over the plans. On the sidelines of the  Energi Mineral Festival 2025, Edi revealed that Pertamina was waiting for further instructions from the Energy Ministry and the state upstream oil business task force SKK Migas.

“We [Pertamina] as operators stand ready to explore [the Ambalat Block]. But we are still waiting for their instructions. … Once the [ministry’s] oil and gas directorate-general and SKK Migas give the order, we are ready to carry out the project,” Edi told reporters. 

“We possess the technical and financial competence, be it for the development of a semi-submersible platform or jack-up rigs,” the businessman said, referring to the available types of mobile offshore drilling units.

Pertamina is expected to partner with the Malaysian oil giant Petronas. Edi admitted that both countries had yet to agree on whether it’d be Pertamina or Petronas who would get the majority stake in the project.

“The discussions have not reached the point. It all depends on the boundaries,” Edi said.

The day earlier, Foreign Affairs Minister Sugiono told the press that the Ambalat was a talking point in Prabowo-Anwar’s recent meeting, but admitted that there was still a lot of work to do before the joint development could happen. 

“We are still in the exploratory talk stage. We want to find out the modalities and technicalities. There is still a long way to go," Sugiono said in Jakarta on Tuesday.

The area has the East Ambalat block operated by Pertamina Hulu Energi East Ambalat. However, the government-assigned borders overlap with those of Shell Malaysia’s block. These overlapping borders have prevented the Indonesian company from carrying out any exploration activities there.

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