Oil, gas exports exempted from L/C requirement

The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources reiterated on Tuesday that the oil and gas exports are exempted from the government?s new L/C policy.

?Oil and gas (exports) are not required to use L/C. There has been an agreement (among governmental institutions) on this. We are now waiting for a regulation to be issued on this (exemption from L/C requirement),? acting Director General of Oil and Gas IGN Wiratmaja said in a statement.

While waiting for such decree to be issued, the ministry is proposing L/C exemption for oil and gas exports on a case-by-case basis. Thus far, the ministry has proposed L/C exemption for LNG and oil exports.

Wiratmaja said thus far it is not clear yet whether the regulation will be a joint-ministerial regulation a ministerial regulation.

The decree on the L/C requirement was issued by the Ministry of Trade in January of this year and is effective April 1 of this year. The regulation requires the use of L/C payment system in the export of the country's key commodities including coal, mineral, oil and gas, and crude palm oil

Editing by Johannes Simbolon