Riau demands a portion from sales of Natuna gas to Singapore
Friday, January 12 2001 - 04:00 AM WIB
An assistant to the secretary of the Riau Administration, Drs Badrun A Saleh, said that Riau would demand its portion of income from sales of natural gas from Natuna in Riau to Singapore.
"What we can do is demanding our rights," Badrun said, arguing that based on the regional autonomy law, local administrations should get 15 percent of net income from sales of natural resources, including gas.
State-owned oil and gas company Pertamina said Wednesday it and its production-sharing contractors had started sending natural gas to Singapore from the West Natuna area in the South China Sea.
Under the contract signed by Pertamina and Singapore's gas trading firm SembCorp Gas in January 1999, Pertamina and its production-sharing contractors will send 325 million cubic feet per day (MMCFD) of natural gas to Singapore through a 656-kilometer-long underwater pipeline.
The production-sharing contractors, grouped in the West Natuna Gas Consortium, are Conoco Indonesia, a subsidiary of American energy firm Conoco Inc., Gulf Indonesia Resources, a subsidiary of Canadian firm Gulf Canada Resources, and British-based Premier Oil.
The gas sales contract will generate revenue of between US$6 billion to $7 billion for the Indonesian government throughout the 22 years of the contract.
Commenting on the amount and length of gas sales, Badrun said that the Riau administration had no say at all, as all were decided by the central government as the prevailing laws said so. (*)