Oil, gas draft law completed

JAKARTA (JP): The Ministry of Mines and Energy has finished drafting the new oil and gas law, which is to be handed over to the House of Representatives for deliberation.

Spokesman for the Ministry of Mines and Energy Budhi Sulistyo said on Tuesday the ministry expects the House to pass the bill into law by March.

Budhi said in a statement the law had been drafted by a cross- ministerial team for months on input provided by various parties, including oil and gas industry experts, the Indonesian Petroleum Association (IPA), the Indonesia Chamber of Commerce and Industry, World Bank, oil and gas companies operating in the country and non-government organizations.

The new law will, among other things, lift the monopoly held by state company Pertamina on the downstream sector of the oil and gas industry.

Budhi said the ministry is currently composing a draft governmental regulation for the implementation of the new law so the law could be brought into effect as soon as the it gets through the House. (jsk)