Rantau Pandjang — modern Rantu Panjang — is a place in the landschap of Peureula (Perlak) in the onderafdeeling Langsa of the afdeeling Oostkust van Atjeh, situated on the coast north-west of the chief place Peureula. It is the site of the petroleum-spring discovered by officers of the man-of-war Timor in May 1875, led thither by Atjehnese chiefs, and of the later oil-terrains of the Perlak Petroleum-Mij and the famous Zuid-Perlak Petroleum-Mij. The Bataafsche Petroleum-Mij, which exploits the Perlak Petroleum-Mij, does not process the oil on the spot but pumps it through a 120 km pipe-line to Pangkalan Brandan. Only the gases are compressed at Rantau Pandjang into oil, which is likewise pumped away. There is a substantial settlement there with about thirty Europeans.
The 1875 Discovery
In May 1875 officers of the warship Timor, led by Atjehnese chiefs, found a petroleum spring enclosed by a wooden tank with a lid. Raw oil collected twice a day from the tank; water was skimmed off with buckets and banana-leaf scoops, and the oil carried back to Rantau Pandjang for sale at almost six dollars the picol. The head’s monthly income from this trade amounted to around 200 dollars, besides three other sources. This discovery directly triggered the Dutch government’s interest in the petroleum resources of Perlak and ultimately led to the establishment of the Perlak Petroleum-Mij and Zuid-Perlak Petroleum-Mij.
The Oil City
By the early 1920s Rantau Pandjang had become the oliestad (oil city) of the interior of Perlak. Langhout wrote in 1923: “Daar, in het binnenland is gaandeweg een oliestad, Rantau Pandjang, ontstaan” (“There, in the interior, an oil city, Rantau Pandjang, gradually arose”). The Bataafsche Petroleum Maatschappij’s exploitation centre was brilliantly equipped, surrounded by oil wells, and pumped its crude oil through a kilometres-long pipeline to Pangkalan Brandan, the industrial city of the Langkat terrains. Beside a number of European workmen, a very great number of native and Chinese workers found an ample existence in the enterprise. In December 1922, alongside 121,197 tons of crude oil pumped from the Peureula tract, 598 tons of crude oil were pumped from the oil field at Aloer Mas to Rantau Pandjang — the exploitation figures showing a steady increase over the preceding years.
See Also
- Verkenningen in Atjeh (1923)
- Peureula
- Perlak Petroleum-Mij
- Zuid-Perlak Petroleum-Mij
- Bataafsche Petroleum-Mij
- Pangkalan Brandan
- J. A. Kruyt
- 1875
Account from Land en Volk van Atjeh Vroeger en Nu
BPM oil terrain ~15 km inland from keudé Peureula; formerly called Pèrlak. Oil piped to Pangkalan Brandan (S.O.K.).
Source: J. Jongejans, Land en Volk van Atjeh Vroeger en Nu (Baarn: Hollandia Drukkerij N.V., c. 1938), pp. 85, 88.
Source
Verkenningen in Atjeh, by Dr. R. Broersma (De Locomotief, October 1923), passim.
Vijftig jaren economische staatkunde in Atjeh, by Joh. Langhout (The Hague: N.V. Boekhandel v/h W. P. van Stockum & Zoon, 1923), pp. 162–163.
Atjeh als land voor handel en bedrijf, by Dr. R. Broersma (Utrecht: Gebrs. Cohen, 1925), pp. 33–35.
Land en Volk van Atjeh Vroeger en Nu, by J. Jongejans, Oud-Resident van het Gewest Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden, with a foreword by Dr. H. Colijn (Baarn: Hollandia Drukkerij N.V., c. 1938), pp. 85, 88.