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Facts about Shell, the global oil giant whose origins are from Indonesia Page all

KOMPA.com – Who doesn’t know Shell, one of the largest oil and gas companies in the world. This company is actually a Dutch company but registered in the UK.

Not many know if this company started from Indonesia when it was still colonized by the Dutch. Shell is an old company that was founded Dutch East Indies and they still exist today.

Quoted from the page officialShell was originally formed by Aeilko Jans Zijklert, an East Java European who decided to move to the east coast of Sumatra.

Aeilko Jans Zijklert worked on tobacco plantations after the Dutch East Indian government opened private plantation investments in Sumatra in 1880. At the time, the Dutch East Indies were implementing forced cultivation.

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After traveling to Sumatra, he found traces of large oil reserves in Langkat in northern Sumatra. Where after research, the oil content contains 62% paraffin.

His business instincts emerged. After finding the oil, he decided to quit his job. He then asked permission from the local ruler, the Sultan of Langkat, to explore for oil in 1884.

Zijklert’s long-standing savings were then used to finance oil exploration and exploitation. But unfortunately, the well he drilled turned out to be dry, meaning it didn’t produce much oil.

The money spent is not low. Not giving up, he tried his luck drilling another well, precisely in the area of ​​Telaga Said near a village called Pangkalan Brandan in northern Sumatra.

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This time Zijklert succeeded. He found a large amount of oil in a new well which became known as Telaga Tunggal 1. Shortly thereafter, this well began producing in commercial quantities.

In 1890, after making a large profit from oil, Zijlker felt confident enough to found a company called the Royal Dutch Company, which is listed in The Hague.

When Zijklert died on December 27, 1890, his partner De Gelder, who was working with him to drill oil, discovered another new well in Pangkalan Brandan.

Drilling was done immediately, then he also built an oil shipping facility in Pangkalan Susu so that the oil could be exported by sea.

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In 1898, the Dutch East India government also completed construction of a storage facility and pier that would become the first oil shipping port in Pangkalan Susu.

Meanwhile in Kalimantan in 1897, another company, Shell Transport and Trading Company Ltd, also discovered oil in East Kalimantan and in the same year established a small refinery in Balikpapan, which began operations in 1899.

This refinery in Balikpapan later became one of the forerunners of Pertamina. At the turn of the century, from the 19th to the 20th century, many oil wells were found in North Sumatra, South Sumatra, Central and East Java and East Kalimantan.

Oil refineries have also been established in each of the oil-rich areas. At that time, there were 18 companies drilling for oil in Indonesia.

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In the early 20th century, of the 18 oil companies, the two that stood out most in terms of oil production were Royal Dutch and Shell Transport.

Shell Transport itself is a company founded in 1897 by the Englishman Marcus Samuel. He is a spice trader who also likes to sell shellfish.

That’s why, Marcus Samuel then named his new company with the name Shell which literally means shell.

To compete with Standard Oil, in 1902 Shell and Royal Dutch decided to form a joint venture called The Shell Transport and Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. srl

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This joint venture was deliberately formed to manage the shipping and marketing of Indonesia’s exploited oil in a number of countries.

In its development, Royal Dutch quickly developed much better than Shell. Instead of working together to create a joint venture, Marcus Samuel then invited De Gelder to merge each company into one.

After the agreement of both parties, a new joint venture between Shell and Royal Dutch was born in 1907, called the Royal Dutch / Shell Group of Companies, a company that is now known as Shell in various countries.

Not satisfied with the merger, the Royal Dutch / Shell Group then acquired another oil company in the Dutch East Indies called Dordtsche Petroleum Mij in 1911.

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