Fishermen urge Premier Oil to stop oil and gas exploration

Fishermen and shrimp farmers in Ujungpangkah, Gresik, East Java demanded British oil and gas company Premier Oil, a contractor of state oil and gas company Pertamina, stop its oil and gas exploration and close its drilling well in the area, citing the potential negative impacts of the exploration activities on the marine ecosystem, Kompas daily reported.

The demand was expressed by Hailil, the head of the Ujungpangkah Youth Communication Forum, in a meeting with Premier's geophysicist Eko Aryanto at the Sepuluh November Institute of Technology in the East Java provincial capital of Surabaya.

Eko made no comments on the demand but said the company would send staff to the examine the case.

Hailil said the company had been operating a well since February 2000 and planned to operate another one in October this year.

"The fishermen and shrimp farmers will block the oil and gas exploration activities in Ujungpangkah," he said.

The paper earlier reported the local fishermen and shrimp farmers opposed the exploration activities in fear that the activities may damage the area's marine ecosystem and result in the decrease in their fish catch.

Spokesman of Pertamina for the East Java area Aseph Aonuddin dismissed the allegation of the fishermen and shrimp farmers that Premier's activities have polluted the area's waters, saying the British company had not yet conducted explorations but only seismic surveys.

"Thus, it's not right that the area's waters have been polluted with oil due the seismic survey," Aseph said.

He said Premier had installed some cables and equipment in the area's waters for the survey but they did not pose troubles to the area's marine ecosystem. (*)