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.