House rushing to complete revision to oil and gas law by mid 2013

By Sonar Sihombing

The House of Representatives expects the revision to the Law No.22/2001 on Oil and Gas to be enacted in mid 2013, a senior lawmaker said.

Satya W. Yudha of the House's Commission VII overseeing energy affairs said a preliminary draft has been completed and will be brought before each faction for approval.

"Then we'll move on to the deliberation process," he told petromindo.com. "We hope to complete it in mid 2013."

Satya said the revision has now gained in significance following a Constitutional Court's ruling that partly annulled some of the clauses in the Law, which eventually dissolved upstream authority BPMIGAS.

"We need to quickly complete this so that our oil and gas industry can have a clear legal umbrella. The Court's decision makes investors uncertain in term of legal guidance," he added.

Under the preliminary draft, there 3 options when it comes to oil and gas management. Firstly, the mining rights held by the President can be delegated to the Energy and Mineral Resources Minister.

The second option would allow the delegation of such rights to a special institution, he said. Thirdly, it would be given to Pertamina as a state enterprise operating in the oil and gas sector.

"For the time being, the President is basically carrying out the first option."

Editing by Dadan Wijaksana