Pertamina to own majority stake in CPP oil block: Govt
Pertamina to own majority stake in CPP oil block: Govt
JAKARTA (JP): The government said state oil and gas company
Pertamina will own the majority stake in a joint company that
will operate the Coastal Plains Pekanbaru (CPP) oil block in
Riau.
Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro
said the government would decide Pertamina's exact share in
January next year.
"I think in January we can decide for sure how much Pertamina
will own," Purnomo said on Friday during a break in a meeting in
Merak, Banten, on how to stop fuel smugglers.
Pertamina and the local government in Riau will form a joint
venture to operate the CPP oil block after Caltex Pacific
Indonesia's contract rights to the oil block expire in August
next year.
Purnomo emphasized that Pertamina's stake would be more than
51 percent, thus ruling out Riau's demand for a controlling part
of the joint venture.
Riau's local government has insisted it be given a 70 percent
stake, claiming it was fully prepared to operate the oil block.
However, Purnomo said the government considered Riau's demand
to contravene the regional autonomy law, under which the oil and
gas sector remains under the central government's control through
Pertamina.
The decision, Purnomo said, was taken by a coordinating team
of ministers comprising Minister of Home Affairs and Regional
Autonomy Surjadi Sudirja; Coordinating Minister for Political,
Social and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono;
Coordinating Minister for the Economy Rizal Ramli; and Purnomo.
The ministerial team last week took over talks to determine
CPP's future ownership, after long negotiations between
Pertamina, Riau and Caltex failed to bear results.
Pertamina president Baihaki Hakim further said bowing to
Riau's demand might set a precedent for other natural resource-
rich regions to put forward similar claims.
"The problem here does not only affect Riau, but is related to
problems in other regions as well, like Aceh and Irian Jaya," he
said.
He added that the government had yet to inform Riau of its
decision to grant Pertamina the majority stake in the oil block.
As for Caltex, he said the company might be included in the
joint venture, once Pertamina and Riau have reached an agreement.
"But this is not mandatory. I have heard that other parties
are also interested," he added.
Baihaki, who is a former president of Caltex, was referring to
the China National Offshore Oil Company.
Caltex initially wanted to extend its contract to the CPP oil
block. The company and Pertamina had almost reached an agreement
over their respective stakes in CPP when Riau's wish to operate
the oil block was unexpectedly granted by President Abdurrahman
Wahid.
According to Purnomo, Caltex will pull out of the negotiations
should the opportunity to obtain a feasible stake in the joint
venture diminish.(bkm)