Navy to secure gas interests

Navy to secure gas interests

Leony Aurora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The nation's Navy is ready to secure oil and gas projects located
in Indonesian waters from possible threats, including pirate
attacks, sabotage, and damage to underwater pipelines caused by
careless navigation.

The Oil and Gas Upstream Regulatory Agency (BP Migas),
representing the industry, signed a five-year agreement with the
Navy on Wednesday to get security back-up in its offshore
exploration and exploitation activities.

Currently, disturbances at sea, which included theft of
operational equipment, terror, and ships damaging pipelines as
they dropped anchors carelessly, were not managed professionally,
said BP Migas chairman Kardaya Warnika.

"The areas that most need supervision are those with heavy
traffic, for instance between Batam and Singapore and the Malacca
Strait," said Kardaya.

The narrow 960-kilometer-long Malacca Strait, bordered by
Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, is used by about 50,000 ships
a year carrying a third of world trade and half its oil supplies.

Navy Chief Slamet Soebijanto said in his speech that the Navy
would do all that was necessary to prevent, resolve, and punish
all kinds of violations of law at sea.

"The scope of the agreement includes guarding and securing the
offshore oil and gas industry, mapping out the projects, and
neutralizing mines in BP Migas' working areas," said Soebijanto.

The Navy would also conduct regular patrols surrounding the
project areas.

The agreement followed the Ambalat incident in offshore
Kalimantan, where Indonesia and Malaysia are in dispute over an
oil-rich maritime area.

Kardaya said that at the time of the dispute, oil operators in
the area felt unsafe with foreign military ships roaming around.
"They reported it to us and we informed the Navy," he added.

A similar agreement was signed by state oil and gas firm PT
Pertamina in 1998.

Another agreement was signed with the National Police to
secure onshore projects, which are considered as vital objects
for the country's interests.