Pertamina returns geothermal contracts to government

Pertamina returns geothermal contracts to government

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

State-owned oil and gas company Pertamina on Monday returned its
exploration rights over 18 geothermal fields in Java, Sumatra and
East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) to the government as it lacked the
necessary funds to develop the areas.

A ceremony was held to mark the transfer.

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro
said at the ceremony that the transfer of the exploration rights
would allow other firms to develop the areas.

He added that the government did not want to see geothermal
fields being controlled for a very long time by one company
without any concrete plans on when development would take place.

"With the handover, other firms can have an equal chance of
developing the geothermal areas," he said.

He added that the transfer would allow Pertamina to be more
focused in its efforts to boost efficiency in its operations.

With the transfer, Pertamina now controls 15 geothermal
working areas, which are being developed through cooperation with
private power firms.

Some of the joint cooperation projects are the Kamojang
geothermal power plant in West Java, and the Lahendong (North
Sulawesi), and Sibayak (North Sumatra) power plants.

Meanwhile, Pertamina president Baihaki Hakim said the company
was still interested in developing new geothermal areas in the
future.

"We have strong experience in this field ... (and) the
country's power demand is still growing, so we'll always watch
out for such developments," he said.

At the same event, the Directorate General of Oil and Gas also
relinquished its supervisory role over the geothermal sector to
the Directorate General of Geology and Mineral Resources.