President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) met with ExxonMobil Corp Chairman Darren Woods on Wednesday (15 November 2023) at the Four Seasons Hotel in San Francisco, where he appreciated the company’s plans to develop a US$15 billion green petrochemical project in Indonesia that would be integrated with a carbon capture storage (CCS) facility.
“I appreciate the cooperation plan for the construction of a green petrochemical plant and Carbon Capture Storage (CSS) with a value of up to $15 billion," said President Jokowi to Darren Woods as quoted in a statement received on Thursday.
"I am pleased to hear that the CCS facility will be the largest in Southeast Asia and the Exxon petrochemical complex will be one of the most advanced in the world," Jokowi added.
Carole Gall, President of ExxonMobil Indonesia, commented in a separate statement: "These large-scale opportunities could substantially boost industrial growth and decarbonization in Indonesia, as well as the Asia Pacific region, and show the importance of collaboration between governments and companies to encourage the shift to a lower-emissions future."
Read also: ExxonMobil plans petrochemical investment in Indonesia
Meanwhile, Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi confirmed that there were two things discussed by Jokowi and Darren Woods during the meeting, namely the planned green petrochemical plant, and the CCS facility.
"For the green petrochemical plan, if this collaboration can be carried out, it will be one of the most sophisticated in the world and for the carbon capture and storage facility, it will be one of the largest in Southeast Asia," said Retno.
Retno further revealed that in the meeting President Jokowi also invited ExxonMobil to further expand its investments in Indonesia including in new and renewable energy and green infrastructure development, including at the IKN Nusantara, East Kalimantan, the country’s future capital city.
Also accompanying President Jokowi at the meeting were Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto, Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi, and Minister of Trade Zulkifli Hasan.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak
