Pulu Pandjang (literally “Long Island” — Pulau Panjang in modern Indonesian) is one of the four component fields of the Atjeh oil complex recorded in Van Bemmelen’s *Geology of Indonesia* (1949) under the North Sumatra heading of the 1940–1941 East Indian oil-production tables. The Pulu Pandjang field was operated by the N.K.P.M. (Nederlandsche Koloniale Petroleum Maatschappij, the Standard Oil of New Jersey subsidiary), and recorded no production in either 1940 or 1941 — which suggests that the field was either in the development stage, suspended, or being explored but not yet brought into production at the date of Van Bemmelen’s tabulation.
Production figures
For the full North-Sumatran production table see the entry on the East Atjeh oil block. The Pulu Pandjang field’s absence of production in both 1940 and 1941 is shared with the South Perlak field (operated by the N.L.A.M.), and the two together are the only Atjeh-complex fields with zero recorded production in either year. The fact that the Pulu Pandjang field is operated by the N.K.P.M. — the Standard Oil of New Jersey subsidiary that entered the East Indies in 1912 and by 1940 “produced about one fourth of the total crude output in the territory” — indicates that the field was part of a major oil-company’s concession portfolio, even if it had not been brought into production at the date of Van Bemmelen’s tabulation.
The name “Pulu Pandjang”
The name “Pulu Pandjang” — Pulau Panjang in modern Indonesian, literally “Long Island” — is a generic toponym applied to several islands in the Indonesian archipelago. In the Atjeh context, the name most probably refers to one of the small islands off the north-eastern coast of Atjeh, in the Pidie–Peureula region where the other Atjeh oil complex fields were located. The occurrence of an oil field on an island (rather than on the mainland) is itself unusual in the East Indian petroleum record, and it suggests that the Pulu Pandjang field was being developed as an offshore or near-shore extension of the Atjeh-complex oil province.
Significance
Pulu Pandjang is significant for the encyclopedia of Acheh history because it is the only Atjeh-complex field operated by the N.K.P.M. (the Standard Oil of New Jersey subsidiary), and accordingly the clearest colonial instance of the operation of that company on Atjeh territory. The field’s non-production in 1940–1941 also illustrates the speculative character of much of the late-colonial Atjeh oil industry: concessionaries held the land, conducted exploratory drilling, and developed infrastructure, but actual production depended on geological and economic conditions that were often not met.
See Also
- Acheh
- Atjeh oil complex
- East Atjeh oil block
- N.K.P.M.
- N.L.A.M.
- N.P.P.M.
- Oil exploration in North Sumatra
- Pasé oil field
- Pedirse
- Peureula
- Tamiang oil block
- Van Bemmelen’s The Geology of Indonesia (1949)
- 1940
- 1941
Source
The Geology of Indonesia, by R. W. van Bemmelen, Vol. II: Economic Geology (The Hague: Government Printing Office; Martinus Nijhoff, 1949), p. 9 (Table 4: Oil production in the East Indies in 1940 and 1941).