Indonesia’s efforts to boost upstream petroleum investments to mitigate falling production have not made much headway in recent years, further entrenching its reliance on imports. Nearly two years after Joko Widodo assumed the presidency in Indonesia, hopes that his administration would revive investment confidence in the country’s upstream oil and gas sector have receded. Data published May 27 in local media TheInsiderStories highlighted falling interest by local and foreign companies to invest in Southeast Asia’s largest oil and gas producer. The archipelago attracted $18 billion in upstream spending in 2015, down 18.2 percent from the $22 billion invested in 2014. “The government is trying to reform Indonesia’s oil and gas regulations to attract more investments and become less dependent on oil imports,” William Simadiputra, a Jakarta-based oil and gas analyst at DBS Vickers Securities told Rigzone. That has not worked so far. “With existing regulations and policies, plus current […]