20 Tahun Kemudian, 20 Years Later!

Menemukan laporan jurnalistik yang saya  tulis hampir 20 tahun yang lalu, terbetik rasa kerinduan mengunjungi lokasi-lokasi kejadian dan orang-orang yang pernah kutemui.Suasana, kesulitan lapangan kembali muncul. Andai aku bisa berkunjung ke sana lagi!



Saya kembali menemukan sebuah artikel di Majalah Prospek 11 Mei 1991 yang sudah diterjemahkan ke dalam bahasa Inggeris di http://www.hamline.edu/apakabar/basisdata/1991/07/31/0001.html. Saya rindu pak Hasan Ali, mungkin dia sudah tua sekarang. Rindu mantan redaktur Muhammad Yusuf. Dimanakah kalian berada?

Mudah-mudahan suatu ketika saya bisa bertemu beliau. Orang yang pintar, sangat ramah dan hangat. Semoga Tuhan memberi umur panjang. Saya tidak tau perkembangan laporan ini setelah dua puluh satu tahun berlangsung, semoga semuanya memberi kemakmuran bagi rakyat, khususnya rakyat Aceh. .  
 .
Source: Prospek.
Date: 11 May 91.
Story Type: News.
Original Language: Indonesian.
Dateline: Medan.
Byline: Muhamad Jusuf and Jannerson Girsang.

HIDDEN TREASURE IN EAST ACEH: LARGE NATURAL GAS RESERVES
ARE DISCOVERED IN EAST ACEH, FAR GREATER IN SIZE THAN IN ARUN AND
BADAK FIELDS

There is no end to energy in Aceh. No less than 60 million barrels of crude have been pumped from the oil fields of East Aceh, but the region clearly still holds sizeable energy deposits. Asamera Oil of Canada, a production-sharing contractor with Pertamina, recently discovered natural gas reserves of about 24 trillion cubic feet off the East Aceh coast.


It does not end there. Trans Canadian Resources (TCR) also has discovered natural gas reserves around Kuala Langsa and at Kuala Idi. These are believed to be far larger than the reserves discovered by Asamera. If true, these natural gas discoveries will be the largest ever made in Indonesia, following on those at Lhok
Sukon, Arun, North Aceh, and at Bondang, East Kalimantan, with reserves of approximately 18 trillion and 20 trillion cubic feet respectively.


According to Hasan Ali, field manager of Asamera Oil Ltd., the results of a seismic survey carried out in East Aceh by Pertamina subsidiary Elnusa point to the presence of 10 "traps", geological structures which may hold gas in large quantities. "Although the tendency is for these traps to hold gas and oil, there is the
potential for discoveries of natural gas reserves far larger than those found at Arun," Hasan Ali told Prospek.

The newly discovered oil and gas fields are located at [A]lur Lambung, Raya, Salak Bata, Alur Baong, Cane, Jerneh, Peutow, Seuntung, Kuala Langsa, and Kuala Muku. Though still at the seismic survey stage, Asamera Oil has made some very encouraging estimates. "The most optimistic estimate puts the quantity of gas
or oil at 24 trillion cubic feet; an intermediate estimate is 7 trillion cubic feet; and the most conservative estimate is 711 billion cubic feet," Hasan Ali said.


Making good the reserves, if they are there, will be a lengthy process. But if each stage passes according to plan, it is expected that these fields will be producing gas by 1994.The results of the survey carried out in the first stage point to a bright future for East Aceh District [Kabupaten]. Concern in the area over declining oil production, and even the drying up of reserves, has given way to hopes for a bright future.


Asamera Oil is no newcomer to East Aceh. It is the only production-sharing contractor operating with Pertamina in East Aceh, and began working there in 1961. Since then it has sunk 450 wells and extracted 60 million barrels of oil. Most of this has come from wells in the Tualang, Julu Rayeu, Peudawa, Geudondong,
Alur Cimon, and Iee Tabeue fields.


In Jakarta, however, Pertamina's Director of Exploration and Production, G.A.S. Nayoan, pointed out that the discoveries made by Asamera and Trans Canadian Resources in East Aceh still constitute "resources", and cannot yet be described as "reserves".

More drillings are necessary to determine the veracity of the information yielded by the seismic tests. The results of these drillings will not be known until next year, Nayoan said.