Pertamina defends Natuna pipeline plan<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): State oil and gas company Pertamina denied on
\nMonday the allegation that the West Natuna consortium had held an
\nunfair tender to the awarding of the contract for the development
\nof the underwater pipeline megaproject to channel natural gas
\nfrom the gas fields west of the Natuna islands to Singapore.<\/p>\n
Pertamina's head of foreign contractor supervision (BPPKA)
\nGatot K. Wiroyudo said the tendering process done by the
\nconsortium -- comprising Britain's Premier Oil, Canada's Gulf
\nResources and the United States' Conoco -- was transparent and in
\ncompliance with the existing regulations.<\/p>\n
\"We don't see any irregularities in the tendering process,\"
\nGatot said in a press conference attended by the representatives
\nof the three Pertamina production sharing contractors.<\/p>\n
Pertamina signed last month the gas sales agreement to supply
\nSingapore's Sembawang Gas (SembGas) with natural gas extracted
\nfrom the consortium's gas fields in the South China Sea for 22
\nyears starting from 2001.<\/p>\n
The natural gas will be channeled through a 650-kilometer
\nunderwater pipeline worth US$400 million linking the contractors'
\ngas fields to Sakra island off Singapore.<\/p>\n
Gatot said the consortium had completed the technical
\nevaluation of the bidders and would hold definitive bidding later
\nthis month.<\/p>\n
Several members of the House of Representatives, including
\nPriyo Budi Santoso and Joeslin Nasution, have expressed their
\nconcerns over the tendering process for the construction involved
\nin the pipelines.<\/p>\n
They said the consortium had intentionally engineered the
\nterms of the tender to disadvantage the Asian bidders.<\/p>\n
The tender's terms which Asian companies complained about
\nstipulated, among other things, that the contractors should have
\na track record of building at least three pipelines of the same
\nlength as the West Natuna pipeline over the past five years.<\/p>\n
\"All the Asian contractors participating in the bidding only
\nhave experience of building shorter pipelines. But, the
\nrequirements will exclude them despite the fact that they offer
\nmore competitive prices than the others,\" Priyo said.<\/p>\n
Gatot said there were initially eight international
\nengineering, procurement, construction (EPC) contractors which
\nwere interested in participating in the bidding, but two of them
\nlater backed off.<\/p>\n
Only four of the bidders passed the technical evaluation
\nconducted by the consortium Oct. to Nov last year.<\/p>\n
\"As part of the technical evaluation, we also visited the
\nbidders' operation centers in their respective countries to see
\ntheir technical capabilities,\" Conoco's vice president of
\ndevelopment and relations AR Natanegara said.<\/p>\n
Natanegara and Gatot however refused to name the four bidders
\nthat passed the technical evaluation.<\/p>\n
But according to Joeslin, the four EPC contractors are
\nFrance's ETPM, Italy's Saipam, Japan's Nippon Steel and the U.S.'
\nMcDermott.<\/p>\n
\"Hiding itself behind the current reform spirit, the
\nconsortium uses classical excuses like experience and the urgency
\nof the project to favor the four contractors,\" Joeslin said.<\/p>\n
\"Behind it is a big, systematic and delicate corruption plan,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
Gatot said BPPKA had approved the strict bidding requirements
\nmade by the consortium given the high risk of the project and the
\npenalty that would be imposed by SembGas on the consortium in
\ncase of gas supply problems.<\/p>\n
\"The consortium has to reduce the risk as much as possible,\"
\nGatot said, adding that the contractors had to finish the
\nconstruction of the pipelines in 25 months, otherwise the
\nconsortium would face penalties from SembGas.<\/p>\n
He said the bidding requirement did not specify the proportion
\nof locally-made materials that had to be utilized by the bidders,
\nbut he said the use of such material will be considered a plus
\npoint for bidders. (jsk)<\/p>",
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