House determined to revise oil and gas law
Monday, March 29 2010 - 03:02 AM WIB
A revision of the law was recommended by the House's Special Committee on Oil in September last year.
Satya W. Yudha, a member of DPR?s Commission VII, which oversees mining and energy affairs, said in Jakarta on Monday that such a revision could be made with only a proposal from the House of Representatives and it was also in compliance with the national legislation program in 2010.
?The law has been listed the 68th of the 108 laws proposed by DPR for a revision last September. So in September this year at the latest, discussion for the revision should have been started. DPR will prioritize this revision,? he said.
Many people have stated about the urgency of revising the oil and gas law due to the declining trend in the national oil and gas production since 2001, when the law was passed. A number of them even asked for an abolition of BPMIGAS and a revival of the old system where Pertamina was in charge of oil and gas businesses.
Among those calling for the revision of the law no. 22/2001 was Gita Irawan Wirjawan, the chairman of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM). ?Basically, I agree with such a revision to make it investment friendly. Isn?t it a pro-investment policy that we need to attract investments?,? he said.
?Last year the Special Committee on Oil asked the director general of oil and gas to find out articles of the law that are needed to be revised,? said Romahurmuzy, another member of DPR Commission VII.
He noted that the law urgently needs revision as Indonesia had seen its oil production decreasing since 2001, when the oil and gas law was passed. The oil production has dropped from about 1,3 million barrels in 2001 to 965,000 barrels now.
But Sammy Hamzah, the vice president of the Indonesian Petroleum Association (IPA), stated that there was no direct correlation between the Law No. 22/2001 and the decrease of oil production. ?It?s better that the revision of the law be made in the spirit of synchronizing it with other regulations, particularly those on tax,? he said.
On the abolition of BPMIGAS he said, ?That?s a matter of politics.?
Commenting on the revision plan recently, Director General of Oil and Gas Evita H. Legowo said, ?We?re confused which articles need revision as we?ve considered all articles of the law are good.? (godang)