Financial arrears of oil, gas contractors total $350m
Monday, April 10 2017 - 01:13 AM WIB
Petromindo
Forty oil and gas contractors have yet to pay financial obligations to the state, in the form of signature bonus and firm commitment, totaling US$350 million, Kontan reported on Monday.
The paper quoted Secretary of upstream oil and gas authority SKK Migas, Budi Agustiono as saying that the financial arrears initially reached $400 million, but the regulatory body has managed to collect $50 million.
Budi said that the contractors should have paid the financial obligations 30 days after winning tender for the oil and gas blocks.
He said that SKK Migas has been facing difficulties to make collection as their addresses could not be located although the authority has sent letters and make announcement in the media. The contractors are no longer operators of the oil and gas blocks after their contracts have been terminated by the government.
Budi said that SKK Migas is seeking the help of Indonesian embassies overseas such as the embassy in Canada and Mexico to locate the contractors? addresses.
He said that SKK Migas has been given responsibility in making the collection of the financial arrears although it?s not involved in the selection of winning bidders of oil and gas assets.
He said that SKK Migas has sent a letter to the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources expressing its demand to be included in such decision making process. The expanded role of SKK Migas should be included in the upcoming revision of the Oil and Gas Law, he added. (*)