Caltex to operate in Indonesia for another 70 years

Although the security situation in Indonesia is still uncertain, PT Caltex Pacific Indonesia (CI) pledges it will be able to operate in the country for another 70 years, according to the company?s president Humayonbosha.

He said that Vice President Hamzah Haz hoped Caltex would become a model for foreign investors in the country. "The Vice President hopes Caltex will become a model of foreign investors," he told reporters following a meeting with the Vice President.

The visiting chairman of Caltex shareholder Chevron Texaco Corporation, Peter J. Robertson also visited the Vice President.

Robertson said that although the security uncertainty remained a problem, but the overall investment climate in Indonesia remained good. "This is why we will continue our investment because opportunity for that is still widely open," he said.

This year, Robertson said, Caltex would invest about US$450 million to further raise oil production in Riau. At present, Caltex produces about 610,000 barrels per day, slightly lower than about 640,000 barrels per day in 2001.

The decline was partly caused by the handover of the operation of the company?s major oil block Coastal Plains Pekanbaru (CPP) to the government after the later refused to extend its contract. (*)