Indonesia will remind Iraq to honor oil contracts: Purnomo

Indonesia will remind the Iraqi government to honor oil contracts signed with foreign companies, including Indonesia's state-run oil and gas company PT Pertamina, under former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's reign, the Dow Jones Newswires reported on Monday quoting Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro as saying.

Purnomo said he will meet with Iraqi officials on the sidelines of the June 15 Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meeting in Vienna.

Last week, Iraq's Oil Minister Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloum was quoted as saying that Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari has commissioned a ministerial committee to revise the country's oil contracts.

"I will remind them that (they) have to honor contracts," Purnomo said.

However, Indonesia is open to renegotiating "non-substantial and technical matters," he said.

Pertamina was awarded the Western Desert Block in late 2002. It had assigned its unit PT Elnusa to conduct seismic surveys on the block, but suspended activities in May 2004, citing security reasons. (*)