SPE 86578
Management of Oil & Gas Exploration and Production in Sensitive Social
Environment and Mangrove Ecosystem
S.Suripno, M. Najib, and Gayatri Asmaradewi/TOTAL E&P INDONESIE
Copyright 2004, Society of Petroleum Engineers Inc.
This paper was prepared for presentation at The Seventh SPE International Conference on
Health, Safety, and Environment in Oil and Gas Exploration and Production held in Calgary,
Alberta, Canada, 29–31 March 2004.
This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE Program Committee following review
of information contained in a proposal submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper, as
presented, have not been reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject
to correction by the author(s). The material, as presented, does not necessarily reflect any
position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its officers, or members. Papers presented
at SPE meetings are subject to publication review by Editorial Committees of the Society of
Petroleum Engineers. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this
paper for commercial purposes without the written consent of the Society of Petroleum
Engineers is prohibited. Permission to reproduce in print is restricted to a proposal of not
more than 300 words; illustrations may not be copied. The proposal must contain
conspicuous acknowledgment of where and by whom the paper was presented. Write
Librarian, SPE, P.O. Box 833836, Richardson, TX 75083-3836, U.S.A., fax 01-972-952-
9435.
Abstract
TOTAL E&P INDONESIE (TI), a subsidiary of TOTAL
Group, has been operating in Mahakam Contract Area for
more than 30 years, despite of increasing sensitivity in the
operation area from social environment and mangrove
ecosystem point of view. Handil and Tunu Field are located
in Mahakam Delta area, which was initially covered by
dense mangrove vegetation. In the last decade there has
been very rapid increase of local population activities and
deforestation due to shrimp-culture development. Hence,
Company faced more challenges in managing environment
of E&P activities in such sensitive social environment and
mangrove ecosystem.
TI carried out some big efforts of environmental
management actions to protect mangrove ecosystem through
several programs such as minimizing land clearing and
reinstatement of cleared area. These environmental
programs involved local communities and other
stakeholders such as NGOs and governmental bodies. Other
actions to manage mangrove ecosystem were also carried
out through a sustainable development steering committee.
The committee launched programs related with institutional
aspects, regulatory framework, law enforcement,
community awareness improvement, etc.
The growth of local economic activities attracted more
people to come to the delta area. Increasing number of
people gave impacts to E&P activities especially through
environmental issues. Number of claims and disturbances
from local people increased. Therefore, the Company
initiated some approaches to manage such issues, such as
participatory community development, environmental claim
management, and social approaches through environmental
programs.
All those actions were wrapped in the frame of
sustainable development programs where environment is
part of it.
The above efforts resulted in successful solutions for
social environmental problems and generated good track
record in protecting mangrove ecosystem. Process of
implementation on site was challenging and very interesting
to be shared among other companies operating in sensitive
area.
Introduction
TOTAL E&P INDONESIE (TI), a subsidiary of TOTAL
Group, has been operating in Mahakam Contract Area for
more than 30 years, as contractor of BPMIGAS (Executive
Agency for Upstream Oil and Gas Business). The operation
areas are located mainly in the Mahakam Delta area i.e.
Handil, Tambora and Tunu fields. The other operation areas
are located offshore i.e. Bekapai and Peciko fields.
Mahakam Delta was initially covered by dense
mangrove vegetation and recently shrimp pond development
occupied more than 70 % of the Delta area1,2). These
aquaculture activities were followed by increasing number
of people working and or living in the area. This condition
made Mahakam Delta became more sensitive in term of
social and environmental to oil and gas operation.
Hence, Company faced more challenges in managing
environment of E&P activities in such sensitive social
environment and mangrove ecosystem.
Mahakam Delta, a Sensitive Area
The Mahakam Delta is located at the mouth of Mahakam
River on the east coast of East Kalimantan, Indonesia along
the Makassar Strait (Figure A-1). The Delta plain covers an
area about 1500 square km including the distributary and
interdistributary channels. It is originaly covered by dense
mangrove such as classical mangroves Avicenia, Sonneratia,
Rhizopora, Nypa and fresh water mangroves1,2).
Water condition ranges from fresh in the upstream,
brackish in the intertidal zone and saline in the outer part of
the Delta.
Mangrove ecosystem. The mangrove ecosystem has many
benefits to the environment such as3):
- Stabilization and protection of shore lines
- Filtering and trapping of water borne pollutants
2 SPE 86578
- Provision of nursery and feeding ground for numerous
species of fishes and prawn and habitat for crabs
and mollusks.
- Provision of nesting site for sea and shore birds.
- Provision of resources of tourism and recreation.
The vegetation in Mahakam Delta consists of four main
vegetal communities. From the external part of the delta
going to upstream there are2):
- Coastal mangrove fringe : This fringe is dominated by
the Avicennia sp., Rhizopora sp., Sonneratia sp., and
Bruguiera sp.
- The Nypa plain : Nypa is a monospecific community
which spreads over the oldest stabilized ground. They
grow in central part of the delta with variable salinity
conditions.
- The low-salinity mangrove: The transition between the
Nypa plain and the rain forest. The low-salinity
mangrove is dominated by Heritiera sp. It grows in
areas which are poorly influenced by marine saline
waters.
- The fresh water forest: It is located at the apex of the
delta and consists of highly diversified vegetation such
as Oncosperma sp., Pandanus sp., and Acanthus sp.
In the last decade mangrove area in the Delta has been
increasingly cleared due to conversion into shrimp pond for
aquaculture. The rapid conversion of mangrove vegetation
reached its peak in 1997 when economic crisis hit Indonesia.
It resulted more than 73 % of mangrove converted into
shrimp pond in 20012) (Figure A-2).
This rapid conversion gives impact to mangrove
ecosystem i.e. decreasing of ecological function of
mangrove ecosystem. Several problems have been arisen
such as degradation of water quality, decreasing of shrimp
and fish productivity, increasing occurrence of diseases on
shrimps, increasing of erosion and coastal abrasion, loss of
biological habitats, soil losses, etc.
Those impacts resulted in social and economical impact
such as failures of shrimp pond harvests and decreasing of
fish catch. These social & economical impacts give effect to
TI that operates in the area.
Social Environment. There are five main Sub-Districts
around the Delta which consist of many villages. Total
population of those villages is more than 50,000
inhabitants4). Previously most of their livelihood is as
fishermen mainly by trawling net. Since 1980 trawling net is
prohibited by law, consequently some of them changed their
livelihood by developing shrimp ponds. Initially, they
operated their shrimp ponds by traditional way without
introduction of any seed and feed.
Since then shrimp pond opening continued in increasing
rate. The pond-opening peak was in 1997 due to the increase
of shrimp price during economic crisis and in 2001 the total
area of shrimp pond was more than 70,000 ha. The area of
pond ranges from less than 2 hectares up to 50 hectares and
the average of shrimp pond sizes are between 10 and 11
hectares5). Most of the shrimp ponds are located in external
part of the delta where the salinity is high. However in the
recent years many shrimp ponds were also constructed in
low salinity area i.e. central part of the delta.
The shrimp culture and fishing activities in the Delta
invite many people to invest and work in the area. Some of
them are residing in the area while the others are working
only in the Delta and residing outside the Delta. The
population growth rate in Mahakam Delta between 1996 to
2001 is relatively high (7 – 8%), compared with national
population growth rate in 2000 (3%)6).
The increasing population growth has affected oil and
gas company in the operational activities of exploration
and production.
E&P Operation in Mahakam Delta
TI has undertaken its exploration and production
operations in Mahakam Contract Area since 1970. Until
now, more than 600 wells have been drilled at TI fields
located at Mahakam Delta: Tunu, Tambora, and Handil
Fields. The land occupation by TI is limited to about 2% of
the delta plain area, consisting of well clusters, pipeline
Right of Ways (ROW), and processing areas. There are
three main processing areas: Handil Central Processing
Area, Tambora and Tun Central Processing Unit, and Tunu
North Processing Unit.
The main production of TI in Mahakam Delta comes
from Tunu Field which is a gas-producing field. The field is
located along eastern part of the delta, where the human
activities are mostly concentrated, i.e. local community
settlements as well as fishing and aquaculture activities.
The Handil field is located in southern part of the delta.
The influence of sea water in this area is limited, although it
does not prevent people from developing shrimp ponds in
the area. The other field, Tambora, is located in the apex of
the delta which is mainly covered by fresh water forest and
low-salinity mangrove forest. Some development of
aquacultures has also reached this area.
Because most of the operating areas are in the most
sensitive area of the delta, TI has to integrate issues of
sustainability of mangrove ecosystem in Mahakam Delta in
the environmental management system of exploration and
production operation.
Managing Environment through
Sustainable Development
The sustainable development programs in TI are
centralized in an organization called Sustainable
Development Steering Committee. The committee consists
of four main parts each corresponds with the following
projects: Community Development, Mahakam Delta,
Environment, and Protection of Land Assets.
Each part of the committee has defined its objectives and
programs related with institutional aspects, regulatory
framework, law enforcement, community awareness
improvement, etc.
Minimizing Impact to Mangrove Ecoystem. In order to
protect mangrove ecosystem, TI has implemented some
actions as part of the sustainable development steering
committee programs:
Minimizing of land clearing. The land clearing is
minimized by initiating a proper assessment before any new
development projects are implemented. Alternatives of
SPE 86578
development locations and extensions were made to be able
to choose the most acceptable alternative which gives
minimum effects to the environment. The example are the
installation of new pipelines in existing ROW, extension of
existing oil and gas gathering facilities instead of installing
additional ones, optimization of land clearing in accordance
with safety and environmental aspects, etc.
Reinstatement of cleared area. In order to minimize
impact from land clearing, TI has initiated the mangrove
replanting operations (Figure A-3). Until now, more than 1.6
million mangrove trees has been planted above cleared area
(pipeline ROWs) since the launching of the program in year
2000. The mangrove replanting has covered more than 65
km of the ROW which is more than 200 hectares. The
mangrove replanting is performed in cooperation with local
villagers who sell the seedlings and perform the planting as
well as monitor the planted trees. The first phase of the
program is being continued to reach the initial objectives of
2 million mangrove trees replanting.
Shrimp pond training. One of the community
development programs is to give shrimp farmers
information on the management of shrimp culture in
environmentally friendly and sustainable way through
silvofishery method. This method considered sustainability
of mangrove ecosystem. This training were performed to
more than 400 participants at several Sub-Districts, in
cooperation with governmental bodies and NGOs.
Shrimp pond pilot. To support shrimp pond training
programs, a pilot project of environmentally shrimp pond
has been launched to provide good example for local
communities as well as to promote awareness of mangrove
ecosystem sustainability (Figure A-4).
Managing Social Environment. The growth of economic
activities has attracted many people to come and live in the
delta with the main business of fishing and shrimp farming.
The extensive aquaculture development became a major
source of conflict of interests between shrimp farming
activities and E&P activities taking place in the same area.
Environmental claims and disturbances from local people to
exploration and production activities increased along with
the operation and development of oil and gas facilities, some
encountered issues are:
- land disputes occurred with shrimp farmers when new
pipes/facilities are to be installed
- constraints on operational E&P activities increased due
to local community activities
- Some new shrimp ponds built over land acquired for oil
and gas installation might jeopardize the activity
- In the occurrence of diseases and productivity decrease,
the local population had a tendency to put the blame on
exploration and production operations
In order to manage those issues, several approaches have
been implemented within the framework of sustainable
development:
Participatory community development. As part of oil
and gas company social responsibility, programs of
community development has been performed in cooperation
with local communities. The local communities participate
in the programs from the planning stage until the evaluation
3
stage. The programs cover several sectors such as
construction of infrastructure and other public facilities,
improvement of health services, improvement of education,
provision of income generation, etc. The programs have
been successfully implemented and have helped to increase
harmonious relationship between the local communities and
the company.
Environmental claim management. In order to solve
the disputes and claims from local people to oil and gas
company, local government is involved as the mediator.
When necessary, experts from universities are involved in
the process of claim analysis.
Promotion of environmental awareness. Shrimp pond
training, shrimp pond pilot, and mangrove replanting
programs have helped to promote the awareness of local
communities on the ecological problems occurred in
Mahakam Delta. Through participating in those programs,
the local communities have gained knowledge on the
methods of sustainable management of shrimp culture
activities as well as methods of mangrove preservations.
Involvement of local communities in E&P activities. In
some oil and gas operations, representatives of local
communities have been involved in the monitoring of the
project operations. Due to this direct involvement, the local
communities have better knowledge about the oil and gas
operation. The other advantage from their participation is
the improvement of communication between oil and gas
company with the local communities. Beside involving the
local communities in monitoring process, they are also
involved in some projects of oil and gas operations by their
employment according to their skill levels.
Conclusion
E&P operations in sensitive social environment and
mangrove ecosystem requires the integrated approach to
minimize social and environmental impacts from the
operations as well as to improve the sustainability of
mangrove ecosystem. The organization set up and the
actions taken to minimize impacts to mangrove ecosystem
and to manage sensitive social environment have shown
good track in promoting stakeholders’ awareness of the
environmental issues in Mahakam Delta. The actions taken
have also shown positive results in the improvement of
communication with the local communities as well as in
solving disputes and claims.
Acknowledgment
The authors would like to thank the management of
TOTAL E&P INDONESIE (TI) as well as Sustainable
Development Steering Committee for permission to publish
the works in this paper.
References
1. Dutrieux, E., “Mahakam Delta: 1999 Environmental Baseline
Study”, CREOCEAN, 1999.
2. Dutrieux, E., “2002 Mahakam Delta Environmental Survey”,
CREOCEAN, 2003.
3. IPIECA : Biological Impacts of Oil Pollution : Mangroves,
London, 1993.
4 SPE 86578

4. Detail Land Use Planning of Mahakam Delta – Kutai 6. Study of Shrimp Pond Activity: Its Relation with Oil and Gas
Kartanegara District, East Kalimantan, LAPI ITB, 2003. Activity and Environment in Mahakam Delta, BAPEDALDA
5. A Socio Economic and Institutional Analysis of Mahakam Kabupaten Kutai and Center for Coastal and Marine
Delta Stakeholders, PT WIN and CIRAD, 2002. Resources Studies – Bogor Agricultural Universities, 2002.

Appendix

TUNU
TAMBORA

HANDIL
Figure A-3 – Mangrove Replanting Program

Figure A-1 – Mahakam Delta, East Kalimantan

Deforested Areas

1000
800
600
Km2

400 Figure A-4 – Pilot of Silvofishery

200
0
1980 1986 1992 1996 1998 1999 2001
Tambak 0 3 30 137 387 564 748

Figure A-2 – Shrimp Pond Surface on Mahakam Delta