Pertamina to have new boss soon: Govt official

The government will soon announce the name of the new president director of state owned oil and gas company Pertamina to replace the company's current boss Widya Purnama.

State Minister of State Enterprises Sugiharto said in Jakarta on Wednesday that the government was still assessing the result of the fit and proper test conducted on the candidates to replace Pertamina's current president director.

"We hope we will be announcing the result of the test by the end of this month," he said. The minister was reluctant to unveil the names of the candidates but sources said that Iin Arifin Takhyan, the director general of oil and gas at the ministry of energy and mineral resources; Martino Hadianto, Pertamina's chief commissioner; Tubagus Haryono, the chief of BP Migas; and Ari Sumarno had joined the fit and proper test.

The sources said that Widya would be replaced due to his opposition against the result of the government's negotiations with ExxonMobil over the operation of the Cepu oil block. (dino)