Caltex leaves it to government to decide the fate of CPP oil block

Caltex Pacific Indonesia (CPI) said that it would leave it to the government to decide weather or not to involve the company in the future operation of the Coastal Plain Pekanbaru (CPP) oil block, Bisnis Indonesia reported on Monday.

Caltex's communication and media relations manager Poedya Oetomo said on Saturday the oil giant would respect whatever decision made by the central government and the Riau administration. "We will respect all the decision related to the management of the CPP oil block," he added.

He acknowledged that Caltex had not been involved in the negotiations on the future operation of the CPP oil block since President Abdurrahman Wahid decided early this year to allow the Riau administration to take part in the operation of the oil block when the current contract ends in August next year.

"But if we are offered the chance to be a part of a joint venture to run the CPP, we will certainly consider it as long as it is economically feasible," Poedya said.

The government agreed early this year to allow the Riau province to take over the operation of the CPP oil block after the current contract ends in August next year. The decision immediately disrupted the agreements made by Pertamina and Caltex on the establishment of the joint venture to run the oil block.

Pertamina, Caltex and the Riau province then initiated new negotiations on the establishment of the oil block. But only months after the negotiations started, Caltex pulled out due to difference in the ownership in the joint venture.

Pertamina and Riau went ahead with the negotiations but no results had been made as both parties demanded majority stake in the joint venture.

The government said recently that it had taken over the talks related to the formation of the joint venture and had decided that Pertamina would be given the larger stake. (*)