Deliberation of oil and gas bill at House to be completed in Sept. 2001

The deliberation of the oil and gas bill by the House of Representatives is slated to be completed in September, 2001, and therefore, the bill will replace Law No. 8/1971 on oil and gas.

The target was set by Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Speaking after chairing the high-official meeting at his ministry, Purnomo said the speedy deliberation of the bill would allow the government enough time to socialize the new law on oil and gas.

Purnomo noted that the deliberation of the bill now centers on two remaining topic, namely about the Executive Body and the Governing Body. All other elements had been agreed upon by the government and the House. Therefore, the deliberation is expected to be completed in September.

After the completion on the deliberation of the oil and gas bill, Purnomo said, the House would then be able to concentrate on the deliberation of the electricity bill, that currently entered the third stage of the deliberation.

Nevertheless, there was another issue had yet to be settled by the government and the House over the oil and gas bill, namely on the role of local administrations in the licensing of an oil and gas concession.

The bill requires that the licensing authority over oil and gas concessions lies with the energy and mineral resources minister, but some legislators have wanted that the minister must get clearance from local administrations first. (godang)