RI awaits Shell's response over Ambalat

Rendi A. Witular and Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Indonesia is still waiting for a response from Dutch company Shell in the matter of the oil-rich Ambalat maritime area, a senior official said in Jakarta.

Jakarta issued a warning to Shell demanding that it explain why it obtained concession rights to explore oil in Indonesian territory from Malaysia's national oil and gas company Petronas.

The Ambalat area, located in the Sulawesi Sea, is claimed by both Indonesia and Malaysia.

Arif Havaz Oegroseno, director for international treaties and legal affairs on economic and social cultural issues at the ministry of foreign affairs, said the government was still waiting for Shell's reply.

"Let's see (their reaction)," Havaz, who is also the head of Indonesia's negotiation team on the Ambalat dispute, said on Thursday.

Malaysia's Petronas granted concession rights to Shell on Feb. 16 for the exploration of hydrocarbon deposits in ND6 and ND7 oil blocks in Sulawesi Sea.

Indonesia, which claims the area as its territory, launched a protest against the government of Malaysia over its unilateral claim on Ambalat waters.

Havaz said that the government had also sent a letter to Shell asking for the company not to interfere in Indonesia's internal matters and jurisdictions.

"Therefore, we ask Shell to stop its operations in Ambalat waters," he said.

"We have told Shell that Indonesia will take firm action against it if it engages in any activities in our waters," Havaz said.

"Shell said that they will not interfere our affairs and will seriously consider Indonesia's demand," he said, without elaborating the actions that would be taken should Shell not meet Indonesia's demands.

Havaz added that the government would strongly reject suggestions for joint cooperation in the Ambalat area.

He said that Indonesia was in a strong position to prove that Ambalat waters were part of Indonesia's territory based on international maritime law, particularly the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

"No way, Minister Hassan Wirayuda (Foreign Minister) has stated that there will be no joint cooperation (in Ambalat)," Havaz said.

"We can not apply joint cooperation in the Sulawesi Sea. We have been there a long time. In Ambalat itself we have conducted exploration activities," he said.

This week technical teams from Indonesia and Malaysia met for first time to discuss Sulawesi Sea issues.

Havaz said that the two sides had agreed to hold meetings every two months to resolve disputes in the Sulawesi Sea. The two teams are scheduled to meet in Malaysia in May.

In another development, Hassan asserted that the Ambalat row between Indonesia and Malaysia could not be resolved with only one meeting but expressed his optimism that negotiations would not be prolonged.

"Don't make the assumption that the meeting was a failure. Such a decision cannot be reached after just one meeting," Hassan told reporters at the Merdeka Palace.

"I did not intend to give a pessimistic impression, but negotiations on the continental border between Indonesia and Vietnam took 32 years. We, of course, do not want this to happen in the Ambalat case," he said.