Susilo tempts neighbors with five oil and gas projects
Susilo tempts neighbors with five oil and gas projects
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has put five oil and gas
projects on offer during his three-day visit to neighboring
countries Malaysia and Singapore.
"These five projects are our main priorities. Therefore, the
President is making this offer during his official visit,"
Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro said
on Tuesday, adding that the offer was made in a bid to attract
investors so as to speed up the realization of infrastructure
projects.
Among the five projects is the completion of the gas pipeline
connecting Grissik in South Sumatra to Semarang. The existing
pipeline stops at Cilegon, West Java.
The government is also seeking investors to build another
parallel gas pipeline from Semarang to Cilegon and another line
connecting Tuban, East Java, and Surabaya.
Aside from the gas pipeline projects, the government is
seeking investors for the building of a fuel transit terminal in
Tuban and the construction of a coal-fired power plant in Cilegon
with a capacity of between 400 megawatts and 600 megawatts.
Purnomo refused to disclose the value of the five projects,
saying it would depend on the results of tenders that would be
held "as soon as possible".
The Oil and Gas Downstream Regulatory Agency (BPH Migas) would
be responsible for holding the tenders for all three gas pipeline
projects.
Purnomo said that Malaysian oil and gas company Petronas had
showed an interest in participating in the Cilegon power plant
project.
He also said that Susilo had decided to use his three-day
overseas trip -- in which the President is scheduled to have a
breakfast meeting with Singaporean businessmen on Wednesday -- as
a road show to attract investment for Indonesian infrastructure
projects.
The government put the five projects up for offer at last
month's Infrastructure Summit in Jakarta. During the summit,
which was attended by more than 500 companies from 20 countries
around the world, the government offered some 91 projects valued
at US$22.5 billion. A second batch of projects valued at about
$57.5 billion will be offered in November.
Separately, Purnomo also met with visiting Dutch Minister of
Economic Affairs Laurens Jan Brinkhorst to discuss the planned
ministerial meeting between the European Union (EU) and the
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
During a joint press conference, Brinkhorst said it would be
an initial meeting between the oil producing and consuming
countries to seek common ground with a view to stabilizing crude
oil prices.
He underlined that price stability was in the interest of both
the EU and OPEC.
"In the end, we have a common interest in keeping the oil
price acceptable. For us, US$30 or $35 per barrel is an
acceptable price," Brinkhorst said.
The OPEC and EU ministerial meeting is scheduled for May or
June, preceded by a senior officials meeting between both groups
in March.