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.