'Pertamina must control oil market'

'Pertamina must control oil market'

JAKARTA (JP): The House of Representatives wants the state-
owned oil company Pertamina to maintain its monopoly of the
domestic oil fuel market, Iskandar Mandji of the ruling Golkar
faction said yesterday.

Mandji of the House's Commission for Mines, Industry and Trade
made the remark in a hearing with Pertamina yesterday in reaction
to the government's plan to liberalize the domestic oil market
for private refiners.

"If private refiners are allowed to sell their products, they
will also ask for authority to determine the prices and that is
very dangerous because oil fuel is the most strategic commodity
that may influence other sectors," he said.

Secretary-General of the Ministry of Mines and Energy Umar
Said told a press conference last week that the government would
submit a bill to the House later this year which would allow
private refiners to sell their products domestically, provided
that the crude is imported.

The Indonesian Petroleum Association (IPA) welcomed the
government's plan, saying that the plan would attract its members
to invest in oil refinery.

Baihaqi H. Hakim, an IPA director, told a press conference
last week that the liberalization of the domestic oil fuel market
would be an incentive that would attract more foreign investment
to the oil industry.

Mandji said yesterday that the government should instead
improve the incentives for investments in oil explorations and
development and refining.

Pertamina's president Faisal Abda'oe refused to comment on the
government's plan to allow private refiners to sell their
products on the domestic market.

"We'd better wait for the government's explanation," he said
at yesterday's hearing. (04)