Contract schemes in oil and gas can be changed: Purnomo

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro has said that the production sharing contract (PSC) currently adopted in the operation of the country's oil and gas fields can be changed with other forms of contract schemes to meet the different needs of investors.

The minister said in Jakarta Thursday that the change in the contracts from the current PSC scheme which has been in place for more than 30 years is possible under the existing oil and gas law.

"We should not be too rigid in this case. A change is possible in order to attract investors to develop the country's untapped oil and gas fields," he said. However, he said, that the initiative on the change in the contract should come from investors not from the government so that the investors would not feel being dictated.

"The term and condition of the contract should be clear so that the change would be beneficial to both the government and the investors," Purnomo said. (godang)