Indonesia’s upstream shifts as IOCs exit

State-owned Pertamina may see further expansion of its role if more international firms exit without finding alternative buyers

“We believe ConocoPhillips has a significant advantage over our [US] independent peers because we also have diverse global businesses that generate significant free cash flow.” So said Nick Olds, the firm’s senior vice-president, strategy and technology when the US superindie reported its first quarter results in early May. But, while admitting it was only a “brief update” of the firm’s non-Lower 48 operations, Olds focused solely on Alaska, Canada, Norway, Qatar, Australia and Malaysia. And that has done nothing to dampen speculation that ConocoPhillips might be the next IOC to depart Indonesia, potentially selling its equity position in south Sumatra’s onshore Corridor block—which accounts