Photojournale : Photo documentary and photo journal stories from around the world - Digging for Oil in Old Wells | Oil squatters in Indonesia http://bladepicturecompany.com/categories.php?cat_id=133 Since being abandoned by the Dutch hundreds of the local oil wells have been springing up. They number in hundreds, about fifty of which were inherited from the Dutch and are still active. This region is known as "Blok Wonocolo". Some wells are exploited by the Indonesian petroleum giant PT Pertamina others are squatted by the local people organised as co operative groups.
The squatters dig the wells using old traditional way. Some use manpower and others use the diesel engines salvaged from secondhand trucks. Using winches, buckets and makeshift drills wells close to a depth of 100 meters are mined, extracting a rich sludge of mud water and oil locally called " lantung". The lantung is separated from the water and mud and then crudely refined for 4-8 hours.
This crude refining produces a very low grade Petroleum and diesel oil which is sold at 1/10 the price of commercially refined oil at Rp 350/liter.
For a days work each group of the workers can produce 4 drums of refined oil (850 litres).These and then distributed in Jerrycans to be sold in small roadside stores.
Photo documentary story / Photojournal by Indonesian Photographer Deni Prastyo Utomo]]> Sun, 19 Apr 2026 14:55:49 GMT the derrick winch http://bladepicturecompany.com/details.php?image_id=3287 Sun, 28 Jun 2009 14:04:47 GMT Digging for Oil in Old Wells | Oil squatters in Indonesia http://bladepicturecompany.com/details.php?image_id=3287 oil platform http://bladepicturecompany.com/details.php?image_id=3288 Sun, 28 Jun 2009 14:04:47 GMT Digging for Oil in Old Wells | Oil squatters in Indonesia http://bladepicturecompany.com/details.php?image_id=3288 on the platfrom http://bladepicturecompany.com/details.php?image_id=3289 Sun, 28 Jun 2009 14:04:47 GMT Digging for Oil in Old Wells | Oil squatters in Indonesia http://bladepicturecompany.com/details.php?image_id=3289 sifting the sludge http://bladepicturecompany.com/details.php?image_id=3290 Sun, 28 Jun 2009 14:04:47 GMT Digging for Oil in Old Wells | Oil squatters in Indonesia http://bladepicturecompany.com/details.php?image_id=3290 the refinary smoke http://bladepicturecompany.com/details.php?image_id=3291 Sun, 28 Jun 2009 14:04:47 GMT Digging for Oil in Old Wells | Oil squatters in Indonesia http://bladepicturecompany.com/details.php?image_id=3291 oil rig http://bladepicturecompany.com/details.php?image_id=3292 Sun, 28 Jun 2009 14:04:47 GMT Digging for Oil in Old Wells | Oil squatters in Indonesia http://bladepicturecompany.com/details.php?image_id=3292 ladeling the oil sludge http://bladepicturecompany.com/details.php?image_id=3293 Sun, 28 Jun 2009 14:04:47 GMT Digging for Oil in Old Wells | Oil squatters in Indonesia http://bladepicturecompany.com/details.php?image_id=3293 Oil barrels http://bladepicturecompany.com/details.php?image_id=3277 Sun, 28 Jun 2009 13:48:41 GMT Digging for Oil in Old Wells | Oil squatters in Indonesia http://bladepicturecompany.com/details.php?image_id=3277 a very cude oil refinary http://bladepicturecompany.com/details.php?image_id=3278 Sun, 28 Jun 2009 13:48:41 GMT Digging for Oil in Old Wells | Oil squatters in Indonesia http://bladepicturecompany.com/details.php?image_id=3278 preparing the oil seperation http://bladepicturecompany.com/details.php?image_id=3279 Sun, 28 Jun 2009 13:48:41 GMT Digging for Oil in Old Wells | Oil squatters in Indonesia http://bladepicturecompany.com/details.php?image_id=3279