Riau sees dispute over CPP oil block can be settled next year

Riau Governor Saleh Djasit said on Friday that the dispute over the Coastal Plain Pekanbaru (CPP) oil block was expected to be resolved next year.

Saleh was quoted by the Bisnis Indonesia daily as saying that a special team of the province was currently holding negotiation with a team from the central government, and ?there is possibility that the problem can be settled next year.?

He did not provide details.

The CPP block is currently being managed by PT Caltex Pacific Indonesia (CPI), which was supposed to end its contract in August this year but was extended for another year until 2002 after the central government and the Riau administration failed to reach a compromise on who would gain control over the oil block once CPI?s term expires.

Riau has demanded that the CPP block should be controlled by the province. But the central government argued that Riau had no sufficient technology and expertise to do that.(*)