Government files lawsuit against PTTEP

The government had on May 3 filed a lawsuit against PTTEP Australasia and two affiliated firms with the Central Jakarta District Court over a 2009 oil spill incident in the Timor Sea.

The Office of the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs said in a statement Friday that the lawsuit was made against PTT Exploration and Production Company (PTTEP) Australasia, a subsidiary of Thai-listed integrated energy company PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited (Plc), as the company has not shown good will in providing compensation for environmental damages caused by the oil spill, which was triggered by the Montara rig explosion in the Timor Sea but the effect of which reached coastal areas in East Nusa Tenggara Province.

Arif Havas Oegroseno, Deputy for Maritime Sovereignty at the ministry, said in the statement that one of the oil spill has among others allegedly damaged some 1,232 hectares of mangrove forest.

He said that the government filed the lawsuit against three companies including Australia-based PTTEP Australasia, Thai-based Petroleum Authority of Thailand Exploration and Production Public Company Limited (PTTEP), and another Thai-based Petroleum Authority of Thailand Public Company Limited (PTT PCL).

The government demands the companies to pay compensation of up to Rp 27.5 trillion to help restore the affected environment at three local coastal villages in East Nusa Tenggara.

According to Petromindo.com, PTT PCL owns a few assets in Indonesia including 11.5 percent interest in Natuna Sea Block A PSC, offshore Natuna Islands, Indonesia. PTT started diversifying into coal in 2009 through PTT Mining Co, a wholly owned subsidiary of PTT International Co, by purchasing Straits Bulk & Industrial, which is the holding company for coal mines in Madagascar, Brunei and Straits Asia Resources, the latter of which owns mines in Indonesia including the Jembayan, Sebuku, and Laung coal mines in East and South Kalimantan.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak