Govt, House start deliberation on oil and gas bill

The government and the House of Representatives started on Monday the deliberation of the oil and gas bill whicih aims to liberalize the industry and revoke the decades-long monopoly held by state oil and gas company Pertamina over the industry.

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro led the ministerial team in the first dicussion of bill with the House of Representatives' Commisson VIII for energy and mineral resources, environment, science and technology.

The House has decided not to form a special team for the deliberation of the bill but, instead, assign the Commission VIII to carry out the job.

Purnomo said he was optimistic that the deliberation of the bill could be completed this year

But, vice commission head Tubagus Haryono said the deliberation could be tough and he was not sure that the deliberation could be completed this year.

"If we can finish the deliberation this year, it's good. But, I am not sure we can do it given the complicated issues contained in the bill," Tubagus said.

Several issues which he predicted would cause tough and lengthy debates among legislators and the government are those concerning the government's plan to replace the existing production sharing contract system with the so-called cooperation contract and the formation of the so-called executive body to take over Pertamina's right of supervising the industry.

The bill was officially delivered by Punomo early this year but the House has delayed the deliberation of the bill for several months due to its tight schedule to discuss political affairs (Alex)