Caltex prepares professional team to manage CPP oil block

PT Caltex Pasific Indonesia is preparing a number of local experts to manage the Coastal Plain Pekanbaru (CPP) oil block if the company is allowed to involve in the operation of the oil block after the current contract expires in August next year, Astaga,com reported on Friday.

Caltex spokesman Poedyo Utomo said Bankinang, some 60 kilometers from the provincial capital of Riau on Thursday that a special team had been formed to prepare the possible involvement of the company in the future operation of the oil block.

The 20-year contract to operate the CPP oil block, now held by Caltex, will expire in August next year.

The government last year had appointed Caltex and state oil company Pertamina to jointly operate the oil block once the current contract ends in August. It however backed of the appointment after the newly appointed President Abdurrahman Wahid said early this year that the Riau government should be involved in the CPP operation.

Caltex, however, then pulled out from negotiations after it lost the chance to have a majority ownership in the joint venture to run the oil block. Pertamina and Riau continued the negotiations but they still failed to reach any agreement, as both still demanded to become majority shareholders. This led the government to take over the talks last month.

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo said recently the Riau province had been offered a 20 percent stake instead of the 70 percent ownership it demanded. (*)