Riau seeks US$26million on CCP contract renewal: Report

Riau province government is demanding US$26 million in compensation for the renewal of PT Caltex Pacific Indonesia's contract to operate the Coastal Plains Pekanbaru, or CPP, oil block, Antara reported Friday.

Muchtar Achmad, adviser to the negotiating team of the Riau legislative assembly, said the amount was calculated from the expected US$62 million in annual profit from the block, according to Antara.

"We demand one-third of the profit from the CPP block to be handed over to the people of Riau," Muchtar said.

Caltex Pacific's contract to operate the CPP block expires in August this year. The government has agreed to extend Caltex Pacific's contract for one year. The block has become the object of a tug of war between the Riau

provincial government and state-owned oil company Pertamina.

Caltex Pacific is a joint venture between Chevron Corp. and Texaco Inc.

Caltex Pacific accounts for about half of Indonesia's crude production.(*)