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Indonesia is positioning itself to be the region’s partner of choice for carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) activities and investments. The government is prioritising the development of its sizeable hydrocarbon reserves to meet national energy security needs while lowering carbon emissions. This includes Natuna D-Alpha, the largest known gas resource in Southeast Asia which contains 72% CO2. The mature hydrocarbon and geothermal industries could provide greater constructive collaboration when combined with CCUS to generate additional value out of existing assets.

Indonesia has significant potential to store carbon dioxide in over ninety depleted reservoirs and multiple saline aquifers across its archipelago. The country has the largest estimated carbon storage capacity in Southeast Asia, hosting more than half of the region’s total estimated capacity.

Depleted oil and gas reservoirs are well-understood subsurface formations that can be utilized for CO2 storage. The high-density of data availability such as seismic, well logs and production history across the expansive archipelago provides a detailed insight into prospective reservoirs that can be repurposed for carbon storage. There are multiple saline aquifers across numerous basins that can hold large storage potential, but extensive studies are needed to quantify their effectiveness. The proximity of the storage sites to existing infrastructure and industrial hubs could supply the scale and accessibility needed to develop large CCUS hubs across the country.

Indonesia could take advantage of its large geothermal capacity combined with carbon capture technologies to produce green hydrogen or ammonia. The combination could provide the opportunity to decarbonise carbon-intensive sectors such as steel or cement for markets that command a premium for lower carbon offerings.

This paper presents the advantageous subsurface position for Indonesia to capitalise on as the country sets on a low-carbon trajectory with CCUS.