Caltex should continue operating CPP
Tuesday, November 21 2000 - 02:00 AM WIB
The Riau government and the central government should let oil and gas company PT Caltex Pacific Indonesia (CPI) to continue managing the coastal plain Pekanbaru (CPP) oilfield in Riau after August 2001 to allow both the provincial and the central government to get the most benefit from the oil resource, according to top oil executive.
CEO of Medco oil group Hilmi Panigoro said that the oil block would be more efficient if managed by Caltex.
"If you ask me, then the answer is Caltex because it has the experience over the oil block," Hilmi said on the sidelines of the anniversary ceremony of Medco.
On the demands that the Riau administration wants to have 70 percent of Caltex's 15 percent share in CPP, Hilmi said that the provincial government should instead go for the share portion controlled by the central government or state-owned oil and gas firm Pertamina.
Caltex fails to get renewal of oil contract
Separately, the Indonesian Observer reported that Caltex contract to pump 60,000 barrels of oil a day from the CPP block would not be renewed after its expiry in August 2001.
"We're out of it," Caltex acting managing director Bob Galbraith was quoted in the paper as saying.
The paper said that the central government and Riau administration were still discussing whether to allow Caltex to manage the CPP oil block for a certain amount of fee.(R. Amoros)