Exxon rejects request to hold tender in Lhokseumawe

ExxonMobil Oil Indonesia Inc (EMOI), which operates massive gas fields in Lhokseumawe, North Aceh, has rejected the local businessmen?s request to hold the tender for the requirement of its goods and services in the company?s local office, Bisnis Indonesia reported on Wednesday.

Deva Rahman, Exxon?s spokesman, said in Jakarta on Tuesday that the company could not open the tender in Lhokseumawe as requested because the company?s representative office in the province did not have enough qualified workers to carry out the job.

"We also hold the tender in Jakarta because most of companies which support Exxon?s operations are located in Jakarta," he was quoted as saying by the newspaper. He said that the tender was also held in Jakarta to give wider opportunities to all businessmen in the country.

At least 37 local businessmen recently protested the company for conducting its tender in Jakarta. The businessmen who were mostly involved in providing services said that joining the company?s tender in Jakarta was too costly for them.

ExxonMobil, the main supplier of the Arun LNG plant, halted its operations for several months in 2001 due to the worsening of the security condition in the troubled province. (*)