Govt returns exploration guarantee funds to 21 PSCs
Friday, September 21 2012 - 08:22 AM WIB
The government has returned the exploration guarantee funds to 21 production sharing contractors (PSC) during the year 2011 as they have realized their commitment for explorations in their respective oil and gas concessions.
The guarantee funds were given by the contractors to the government as a guarantee that they would implement their commitments to do explorations in their respective concessions during the first three years. In 2010, the government returned such funds to 15 contractors, as compared to 9 contractors in 2009 and 8 contractors in 2008.
The contractors can later, after implementing their exploration commitments, ask for the government for a refund of the guarantee fund. The guarantee fund is stipulated in the energy and mineral resources ministry?s decree No. 25/2008 on the guidelines of offering and applications of the oil and gas concessions.
The regulation requires that the contractors deposit the guarantee fund with the ministry?s directorate general of oil and gas on the occasion of contract signing before proceeding to explorations. The amount of the guarantee fund can be refunded gradually in accordance to the amount of the contractors? implemented yearly working programs as reported by the upstream authority BPMIGAS to the directorate general.
Editing by Benget Besalicto Tnb.