S'pore gas deal still on despite Gulf disagreement<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): State oil and gas company Pertamina said on
\nWednesday that a land dispute involving its gas contractor Gulf
\nIndonesia Resources Ltd. in South Sumatra should not affect its
\ndeal to supply natural gas to Singapore's PowerGas.<\/p>\n
Pertamina's spokesman Ramli Djaafar, nevertheless, warned that
\nthe land dispute, if not quickly resolved, was likely to affect
\nongoing negotiations with PowerGas for the gas supply.<\/p>\n
But he said Pertamina and Gulf were optimistic about quickly
\nfinding a solution to the land dispute to prevent it from
\naffecting negotiations.<\/p>\n
\"We expect to solve the dispute as soon as possible,\" Ramli
\ntold The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
The New York-listed Gulf Indonesia Resources, a subsidiary of
\nCanada's Gulf Resources, has been accused by an oil palm and
\ncoconut plantation of appropriating plots in its plantation area
\nin Grissik, Musibanyuasin, to develop gas terminals and
\npipelines, without paying compensation.<\/p>\n
Gulf, however, said it had paid compensation to the
\nplantation's administrator in 1996 but the administrator had
\nreportedly not delivered the money to company's shareholders.<\/p>\n
The Sekayu District Court issued a provisional judgment last
\nweek ordering Gulf to stop operations pending the court's final
\njudgment.<\/p>\n
Gulf has filed an appeal against the provisional judgment with
\nthe South Sumatra High Court.<\/p>\n
Gulf's gas project is part of the central Sumatra pipeline
\nproject in which Gulf sends gas from its gas fields via a 536-
\nkilometer pipeline owned by state gas distribution company PT
\nPerusahaan Gas Negara (PGN) to the Duri oil field owned by PT
\nCaltex Pacific Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Pertamina has also signed a memorandum of understanding in
\nSeptember to supply gas to PowerGas for the purpose of generating
\npower through a pipeline to be built by PGN from central Sumatra
\nto Singapore via Batam island.<\/p>\n
Commercial aspects of the agreement were scheduled to be
\nfinalized last month and the signing of the contract is slated
\nfor March 31, 1999.<\/p>\n
Ramli noted that Pertamina's future gas supply for PowerGas
\nwas not only from Gulf's fields but also from gas fields in the
\nJabung block in South Sumatra owned by Santa Fe Energy Resources
\n(Jabung), a subsidiary of America's Santa Fe Energy Resources
\nLtd.<\/p>\n
As such, if a problem occurs regarding gas supply from Gulf's
\nfields, Pertamina could still obtain supplies from Santa Fe's gas
\nfields, Ramli said. (jsk)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/spore-gas-deal-still-on-despite-gulf-disagreement-1447893297",
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