Indonesia's Success in the Montara Oil Case with the Point of View of Analytical Theory

Source : (Gumelar, 2018)

The Montara Oil Leak is a case of oil mining leakage by a company from Thailand that is mining in Australian territory on August 21, 2009 which polluted marine areas in Indonesia, especially in the Indonesian Timor Sea area for 74 days which provided considerable losses for the State of Indonesia.

The Montara Oil case is a case of oil refinery leakage due to drilling carried out by Thai oil companies in Australia, where the consequences of the leak have had an impact on Indonesia which is detrimental to the territory of Indonesia, especially on the environment. But the case for now is still being resolved by the Government of Indonesia through peaceful means such as mediation and negotiation, and here I will further analyze some developments - developments in the resolution of this case through the point of view of Theoretical Analytical Approach.

Analytical theory explains that foreign policy is influenced by the domestic interests of the country where the Montara Oil case occurred in the Timor Sea in 2009 and has polluted Indonesia. With all the efforts that have been made by the Indonesian government to handle this case where this case has had several adverse impacts on Indonesia, such as:

1. In the field of fisheries (Commercial Fishing) in the sense of causing loss of opportunities and income for domestic fishermen due to marine pollution.

2. Some aspects of damage to life found in the sea such as birds - seabirds due to contamination by pollution.

3. Decline in the quality of the environment in the ocean.

The Indonesian government to handle this case has sought some strong evidence to win the trial in this case, by conducting various monitoring, sampling, and several other resets such as social, economic, and environmental impact studies which can be used as a point of view in the theory of Analytical Approach.

So for now at least this theory has brought success in seeing the impact of losses obtained by the State of Indonesia by looking at it from various analytical points of view both in social, economic, and environmental angles. Indonesia's success in this case has brought the country to account for such negligence. This responsibility is born as a result of activities that harm other countries. The Timor Sea problem is not just a trivial problem in terms of ecology, but a dangerous problem that can threaten with very long impacts.

The success in this case based on the Analytical Approach Theory is that Australia plans to be responsible by providing compensation of 5 million US dollars or equivalent to Rp 45 billion for fishermen and seaweed farmers in the West Timor Sea. Previous government analyses of the impact of this oil leak on the environment in the Timor Sea are not comparable to what the people have suffered, both in terms of the decline in livelihoods of people living in the area and environmental damage due to pollution. Although the Montara Oil Refinery is owned by a Thai state company, when viewed through a principle of state responsibility, Australia still has to be responsible because Australia is a country that is a place for drilling.

The dispute resolution used by the parties in the Montara Oil case is carried out peacefully resolving disputes by doing several aspects including various negotiations, mediation, especially the finding of some facts in this case. Incidents that cause marine pollution that affects Indonesia's sea area, namely the Timor Sea, the Company or the guilty party is required to resolve this problem with the party who has been harmed. In this case, the aggrieved party is the State of Indonesia because this oil spill has spread and entered the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

Analytical theory succeeded in establishing Australia's form of responsibility for the Montara Oil Refinery spill incident, on the other hand the responsibility has been declared absolute or fixed because it is seen based on aspects of adverse impacts that have been analyzed with some evidence - evidence showing fault from the drilling. So that the Australian state will provide responsibility in the form of compensation of 5 million US dollars or equivalent to Rp 45 billion even though the compensation is still declared not proportional to the damage or adverse impact on the Indonesian Timor Sea.

In addition, Analytical theory has bring Indonesia to found about the territorial damage caused by oil drilling.  With the damage obtained, Indonesia can take the case to court and it is likely that Indonesia will bd able to get a big chance in its defense, with some of the damage obtained, Indonesia can also have a big opportunity to claim compensation from the countries involved in the drilling. This can be done because  the damage affected by Indonesia is very large and not comparable to the compensation offered by Australia because the damage can be said to be long term.

So the conclusion is, The success of the Analytical Approach Theory here in handling this case is to look for some damage obtained by the State of Indonesia for some damage to natural damage obtained by Indonesia from the Montara Oil Drilling spill, and the effects received by Indonesia are very large and have long-term effects such as damage to the environment, ecosystems, and one of them is the loss of community livelihoods which indirectly affects towards the economy of the State of Indonesia, especially in the field of maritime wealth. On the other hand, the Analytical Approach Theory has led Indonesia to sue and ask several countries involved to be responsible for the mistakes that have been made and Indonesia also got a strong position for the demands given, for the lawsuit Australia offered compensation for the case amounting to a nominal of 5 million dollars or equivalent to 45 billion rupiah,  but rejected by the State of Indonesia because the nominal is considered not proportional to the damage obtained by Indonesia. Then in the end this Analytical Approach Theory succeeded in bringing Indonesia to analyze what happened to the Indonesian State so that with that Indonesia certainly has a greater chance of winning the case and get accountability.

Reference :

Ambarwati, M. D. (2021). Penyelesaian Sengketa Pencemaran Laut Timor Akibat Kebocoran Sumur Minyak Montara Australia Antara Indonesia dan Australia. 69 - 80.

Introduce my name Mandala Darminto Putra with Student Number 5221611021 from the Department of International Relations, Universitas Teknologi Yogyakarta with accreditation from department B, class of 2022. The reason why I entered the Department of International Relations is to learn about political science because politics itself in everyday life is certainly needed, especially for the current situation, there are very many fools or deviations from the point of view on a matter related to politics towards ordinary people, and for that the factor that motivates myself to study in International Relations as well as want to know the wider world. Then there is also my favorite lecturer in the department who has provided good knowledge to us including me and always gives attention and kindness, namely the father:

• Muhammad Ridha Iswardhana, S.I.P., M.A.

I thank you for the kindness and attention that is always given to us including myself, may health always be given Amen.

For the future in my department, there is a concentration on courses, namely Business and Public. For this concentration, I will take the field of Business, because in my opinion business or being a businessman is an ideal that I have wanted for a long time because it looks attractive and cool.