Petral meets Singapore court's injuction order

Pertamina Energy Trading Limited (Petral), a Singapore-based trading arm of Indonesia's state oil and gas firm PT Pertamina, has agreed to transfer cash of about US$36 million into an escrow account to fulfill the Singapore court's injunction order issued in connection with Karaha Bodas Company's legal suit against the state owned oil company, Bisnis Indonesia reported on Thursday.

Pertamina's finance director Alfred H. Rohimone, who is also a commissioner of Petral confirmed the transfer plan on Wednesday but he said that the funds could not be immediately used by Karaha.

"After Petral transfers the cash, the company will be able to carry out business activities again," he said, adding that the court's order had prevented local banks to issue a letter of credits to support Petral's crude oil purchase.

Meanwhile, Pertamina's legal advisor Simson Penjaitan said on Wednesday that as part of the Singapore court's injunction order, Petral had also been prohibited from transferring its assets worth up to US$36 million.

"We will clarify our position at the Singapore and Hong Kong courts within the next 10 days," he said.

Karaha Bodas sued Pertamina on the behalf of the government through the International Arbitrary Agency for the suspension of its geothermal project in Karaha, West Java in 1997. Pertamina were then asked to pay a compensation of US$261 million but the state-owned oil and gas company refused to settle the payment.

Karaha, then, sued Petral offices in Singapore and Hong Kong to pressure Pertamina to pay the claim. (*)