Holiday Ayo - Shell is one of the world's largest oil and gas companies. This company is actually a Dutch company but registered in the UK. But, did you know that this company originated in Indonesia when it was still colonized by the Dutch?

Shell is an old company that was established in the Dutch East Indies and still exists today.

As cited from its official website, Shell was originally formed from Aeilko Jans Zijklert, a European from East Java who decided to move to the East Coast of Sumatra. Aeilko Jans Zijklert worked in tobacco plantations after the Dutch East Indies government opened a private plantation investment in Sumatra in 1880.

At the same time, the Dutch East Indies were implementing forced cultivation. After traveling around Sumatra, he found traces of large oil reserves in Langkat, North Sumatra. Where after research, the oil content contains 62 percent paraffin.

His business instincts emerged. After finding oil, he decided to resign from 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, aka not producing much oil. The money spent is not small.

Not giving up, he tried his luck by drilling in another well, namely in the Telaga Said area near a village called Pangkalan Brandan in North Sumatra.

source: voi.id

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 to produce in commercial quantities.

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

When Zijklert died on December 27, 1890, his partner De Gelder, who was working with him to drill for oil, discovered another new well in Pangkalan Brandan. Drilling was immediately carried out, then he also built an oil shipping facility in Pangkalan Susu so that oil could be exported by sea.

In 1898, the Dutch East Indies government also completed the construction of a storage facility and a jetty 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 century 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.