Bahlil Dismisses Energy Ministry's Oil and Gas DG After Only Three Weeks in Office

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Lahadalia has dismissed Director General of Oil and Gas Achmad Muchtasyar, who had only been in the position for less than a month since his appointment on January 16, 2025.

Deputy Minister of ESDM Yuliot Tanjung confirmed the dismissal of Achmad Muchtasyar.

"Yesterday afternoon (dismissed)," said Yuliot when met at the DPR RI building, Central Jakarta on Tuesday, February 11, 2025. However, he was reluctant to explain the reasons for the suspension of Achmad Muchtasyar.

On that occasion, Yuliot was tight-lipped about the relationship between the suspension of the ESDM Director General and the search of the Ministry of Energy's Directorate General of Oil and Gas Earth (Ditjen Migas) office conducted by the Attorney General's Office on the previous Monday.

Regarding the search, Yuliot said, it is being internally evaluated by the Ministry of ESDM. "With this internal evaluation, we will later see how the legal process is proceeding. So, we are more independent to observe the legal process."

He affirmed that the Ministry of ESDM will follow the applicable legal process and cooperate in the ongoing legal process. He also claimed that the performance of the Ministry of ESDM was not disrupted by the search.

As previously reported, the AGO conducted a search of the Ministry of ESDM on Monday, February 10, 2025. Head of the Public Relations Bureau of the Attorney General's Office, Harli Siregar, confirmed the search.

The Attorney General's Office searched the Oil and Gas Directorate General office in Kuningan, South Jakarta, from 11:00 to 19:00 WIB on Monday, February 10, 2025. 

Harli said the search was related to alleged corruption in the management of crude oil and refinery product contracts at PT Pertamina, Sub Holding, and contractor cooperation contracts.

"The period of the case is 2018-2023," said Harli in a press conference at the Attorney General's Office, South Jakarta, on Monday, February 10, 2025.

The searched rooms included the Head of Downstream Business Development's office and the office of the Secretary of the Directorate General of . In the search, investigators seized five boxes of documents, 15 devices, 1 laptop, and 4 soft files. At least 70 witnesses and one financial expert related to state finances have been questioned.

Riri Rahayu contributed to the writing of this article.

Editor’s Choice:

 to get the latest news updates from Tempo on Google News