'No illegals' in Premier Oil

JAKARTA (JP): State oil and gas company Pertamina denied on Thursday reports that British energy company Premier Oil was employing foreign workers illegally.

Spokesman for Pertamina's directorate in charge of the supervision of foreign oil and gas contractors, Sidick Nitikusuma, said that after investigating the reports, the directorate had not found any illegal workers in the company, as reported by The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

The Post, quoting an anonymous source, saying there were 15 British nationals who had been working for the company since last year without proper work permits.

Premier Oil's president, Rab Speirs, went to Pertamina to clarify the report, said Sidick.

Speirs was quoted by Sidick as saying that six of the 15 workers did not need work permits because they were here on working visits from Premier's head office, and three of the six had returned to Britain.

He added that five of the 15 were working for Premier Oil on a temporary basis with their working permits were being applied for.

The final four of the 15 were not working for Premier Oil but for a contractor. One of the four reportedly did not have a work permit. (jsk)