N. Sumatra complains about oil earnings

N. Sumatra complains about oil earnings

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The North Sumatra province has filed a protest against a
decree issued by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources
which failed to mention two regencies in the province as oil
producers.

Washington Tambunan, the head of the province's energy and
mineral resources, said on Friday that as the result of the
mistake, the Deli Serdang and Binjai regencies could not share
the government's oil earnings this year.

Washington suspected the ministry of manipulating the data on
the province's oil production, that the two regencies were not
put on the list of the country's oil producing regencies
stipulated in the ministerial decree issued April 22.

"In fact, (state oil and gas company) Pertamina has exploited
oil at the Wampu well in Binjai and the Pantai Pakem Timur well
in Deli Serdang for more than ten years," he told The Jakarta
Post.

He said that last year, the two regencies had been put on the
list of oil producers and, thereby, received a Rp 7.1 billion
share of the government's oil earnings.

Washington said his office had sent a letter to the ministry
on April 26 to protest the decree and to ask the ministry to put
the two regencies on the list of oil producers.

The provincial administration has also sent a letter to the
Ministry of Home Affairs to protest the decree. In the letter,
the administration also invited the ministry's officials to visit
the province to verify that the two regencies produce oil.

Under the Intergovernmental Fiscal Balance Law No. 25/1999,
oil producing regencies have the right to receive the
government's net oil earnings.