Government to suspend firm at center of Montara spill

Petromindo

The government is preparing to suspend licenses and assets of Thailand-based oil producer PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP) Australasia in Indonesia, in a move to push the company to provide compensation for a contamination in the Timor Sea, The Jakarta Post reported on Monday.

Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan held a meeting with local authorities in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), last week, and decided the government would support the fishing communities that have suffered from the oil spill after an explosion at the Montara oil rig in 2009.

The meeting was attended by all relevant institutions, including the Attorney General?s Office (AGO), NTT provincial administration, 13 regency and city representatives in NTT and victims represented by the Care for West Timor Foundation (YPTB).

?The PTTEP license and asset re-vocation in Indonesia by the Indonesian government will be immediately consolidated by the national team on the 2009 Montara Oil Spill Disaster in the Timor Sea Case Settlement led by maritime security affairs deputy at the office of the Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Arif Havas Oegroseno,? said YPTB head Ferdi Tanoni as quoted by The Post.

According to Petromindo.com, PTT EP Australasia is a subsidiary of Thai-listed integrated energy company PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited (Plc), which owns 11.5 percent interest in Natuna Sea Block A PSC, offshore Natuna Islands, Indonesia. This portal reported in May of this year the company was finalizing plans for spinning of its coal business amid weak price of the commodity. 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.

The Post said that after the horrific explosion at the PTTEP?s Montara oil rig some 690 kilometers west of Darwin and 250 kilometers southeast of Rote Island, NTT, gas and oil from the rig gushed into the Timor Sea for more than 70 days.

It is estimated that in excess of 300,000 liters of oil per day contaminated the sea, equivalent to pouring 10 Olympic swimming pools of toxic sludge into the ocean over the months the spill continued.

The oil spill has had a devastating effect on the livelihood of fishermen and coastal communities in NTT, with fish catches and seaweed harvests continuing to decline in the heavily polluted waters.

The Timor Sea Traditional Fishermen Alliance (Antralamor) said fishermen in NTT earned 70 percent less than before the incident.

A group of Indonesian fishermen have kicked off their legal battle at an Australian court, demanding justice for the oil spill that has destroyed their livelihoods over the past seven years.

More than 13,000 seaweed farmers sued PTTEP for more than A$200 million (US$152 million) to cover damages.

NTT Deputy Governor Benny Litelnoni said the NTT administration sincerely hoped the Timor Sea contamination case could be immediately resolved. The step taken by the Indonesian government to freeze the license and assets of PTTEP is hoped to accelerate the process.

?The NTT provincial administration is hoping that thousands of fishermen who suffered the impacts of the Timor Sea pollution are immediately compensated,? said Benny. (*)