Oil and gas companies asked to reopen their offices

BPMIGAS, the government? s agency responsible for upstream oil and gas industry, has asked oil and gas related companies to operate normally and to remain open despite the growing protests against the U.S. led attacks against Iraq, Bisnis Indonesia reported on Monday.

The agency?s statement was made following the closure of the Jakarta offices of American oil and gas companies Unocal Indonesia Company and Amerada Hess on Friday due to the growing protests against the attack in the capital.

"We have asked the two companies to reopen their offices in Jakarta," the agency?s spokesman L. Harijanto said, adding that the oil and gas companies should not be worried over the negative impact of the protests because the agency had arranged a contingency plan to cope with possible crisis resulting from the protests.

Unocal?s are government relations manager in Kalimantan, Satria Djaya, told the daily that the company?s operation in the province remained normal. "I knew the Jakarta office was closed on Friday but I could not comment the situation there," he added. (*)