(August 27, 2024)--Six degrees of separation is the notion that we’re all six connections or fewer away from one another. But when it comes to Chevron Indonesia’s impact on the regions it works in, Wahyu Budiarto says the circle is even tighter.
“I always tell people that it’s three degrees of separation for the lives Chevron has touched or helped improve here,” said Budiarto, Chevron Indonesia’s country manager. “You can pick anyone, and I believe that will be the case.”
This theory is a testament to Chevron Indonesia’s work over the past 100 years.
History lesson
In 1924, Chevron sent four geologists to Indonesia. This was Chevron’s first foray into the Eastern Hemisphere.
Twelve years later, Chevron secured exploration rights to an unpromising region on the island of Sumatra.
“It was a region that no oil company wanted,” the now-defunct Chevron World magazine reported in 1986. “A map drawn by a prominent government geologist in 1930 had noted that central Riau Province contained a large underground layer of granite, a clear sign that any search for hydrocarbons would be futile.”
To say that such a projection was inaccurate would be an understatement. Today, this region contains Duri Field, which was once among the largest oil and gas projects of its kind.
