Pertamina condemns BP over gas leak<\/p>\n
A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Pertamina president Baihaki Hakim has blamed Anglo-American
\nenergy giant BP Plc. for recent gas leaks in the Pagerungan gas
\nfield in Madura, East Java.<\/p>\n
He said on Tuesday the leaks were partly due to BP's
\nnegligence in maintaining the gas pipeline.<\/p>\n
"As a professional in the business, BP should have anticipated
\na possible gas leak. However, it failed to deal with it," Baihaki
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The gas leaks have forced BP to shut down five gas fields in
\nthe Pagerungan contract area, which has reduced gas supply to
\n100,000 million cubic feet per day (MMCFD) from 180,000 MMCFD.<\/p>\n
According to reports, hundreds of firms in East Java that use
\ngas as source of energy have been badly affected by the shutdown.<\/p>\n
BP has said the gas leaks occurred because a number of pipes
\nthat were "worn out". The company has promised to fix the pipes
\nin 20 days.<\/p>\n
Company officials were not available to comment on Baihaki's
\nstatement.<\/p>\n
Baihaki said BP's negligence was not tolerable because it
\ncould seriously affect the operations of numerous companies,
\nincluding state-owned electricity company Indonesia Power, which
\nsupplies electricity along the Bali-Java network.<\/p>\n
He said the government should not extend the contract of BP to
\nmanage the Pagerungan gas fields when it expires, because this
\nincident indicated that BP was not fully commitment to ensuring
\nthe gas supply in East Java.<\/p>\n
He said the government should instead give local oil and gas
\nfirms the opportunity to run the gas fields.<\/p>\n
Baihaki said the gas leaks should teach the government an
\nimportant lesson: that in future contracts penalties must be
\nstipulated for the failure to meet certain targets.<\/p>\n
He said that Pertamina might also have to shoulder the cost of
\nrepairing the Pagerungan gas pipelines under a "cost recovery"
\nmechanism.<\/p>\n
He said the repairs would cost about US$500,000.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/pertamina-condemns-bp-over-gas-leak-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }