Jokowi signs special regulation on Aceh oil and gas
Tuesday, June 9 2015 - 12:36 AM WIB
The Governmental Regulation No. 23/2015 on the Joint Development of Oil and Gas Resources in Aceh was signed on May 5, 2015. The regulation was an implementing regulation of Law No. 11/2006 on Aceh autonomy, the Cabinet Secretary office said in a statement on its website.
Under the regulation, oil and gas resources in Aceh?s lands and sea belong to the state and are to be jointly developed by the central government together with the Aceh administration.
The authority to develop the resources located in between 12 and 200 miles offshore lies with the central government with the Aceh provincial government participating in overseeing and monitoring production reports. Contractors operating in those areas are thus obliged to regularly submit reports to the Aceh governor.
In order to prepare onshore and offshore working areas, the minister of energy and mineral resources will do General Survey, including geological, geophysical and geochemical surveys which are to be carried out by a General Survey Team, whose members, formed by the minister, consist of the representatives of the central government and the Aceh government.
The regulation also states a special agency called the Aceh Oil and Gas Development Agency (BPMA) will be formed to implement, control and oversee the cooperation contracts on both working areas in the onshore and offshore areas of the province. The not-for-profit agency is accountable to the minister of the governor. Its tasks include negotiating with investors on contracts and signing the contracts.
The BPMA comprises a chairman, three-strong supervisory committee (representing the central government, the Aceh government, the public who well understand the oil and gas business), and an executive board (comprising five working units at maximum with each unit presiding over three sub units).
Editing by Johannes Simbolon