Pertamina sets up team to prepare the takeover of CPP operation
Monday, January 29 2001 - 04:00 AM WIB
State oil and gas company Pertamina will soon establish a special team to coordinate preparation for the takeover of the operation of the Coastal Plain Pekanbaru (CPP) oil field from PT Pacific Caltex Indonesia (CPI), Bisnis Indonesia reported on Monday.
Pertamina president Baihaki Hakim said in Jakarta on Saturday that the team would be needed to ensure that the production would not decline when Caltex left the oil field, which at present produces about between 70,000 and 80,000 barrels per day.
He said that the team, which would be headed by Heru Cokro, the deputy director of Pertamina's production sharing management, would have the task to formulate actions needed to prevent the decline in the oil production in the CPP field.
Caltex's production sharing contract to operate the CPP oil field will end in August, this year and the government has no planned to the extend the contract.
The government last year asked Pertamina and the Riau provincial administration to form a joint venture to run the CPP oil field when the current contract ended. But the two parties failed to make any decision as both parties insisted to have the majority stake in the planned joint venture.
The government said it would soon issue its decision about the ownership in the joint venture but Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources had said that Pertamina as the representative of the central government would be given a controlling stake of up to 80 percent.
The Riau government were not happy with the decision.
Last week, a special delegation led by the governor met President Abdurrahman Wahid and Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri demanding the government to allow the province to have controlling stake in a joint venture that will run the CPP oil field.
The delegation also asked the two leaders to give the chance to the province to become the operator of the oil block if the government objects the province's demand to hold the majority stake in the planned joint venture. (*)