House members visit Aceh to calculate oil and gas revenues
Tuesday, July 23 2002 - 03:39 AM WIB
"We came to especially calculate the amount of oil and gas revenues that be received by the provincial administration," Agusman Effend, the vice chairman of the House?s Commission VII which is in charge on energy and mining sector.
Agusman and his entourages would also hold a meeting with members of the province?s legislative council during the visit. Besides the meeting, the delegation will also visit several oil and gas related companies such as PT Arun NGL and ExxonMobil Indonesia during the trip.
Aceh and several other oil and gas rich provinces have protested the government over the low level of the revenue they received from oil and gas production.
According to the new oil and gas law, provincial administrations receive 15 percent from oil production and 30 percent from gas production in their territories .The portion given to provinces come from the government?s share from total oil and gas production in each area.
But Aceh and other provinces said that the percentages of oil and gas revenues paid to them were much lower than that stipulated in the law.
Most of the oil production activities in the country are carried out by private oil companies under a production-sharing contract. The government generally receives 85 percent from oil output, and 65 percent from gas production. (*)