Shell to meet govt over Ambalat oil block dispute

Dutch energy company Shell has promised to clarify its position in the disputed Ambalat oil block amid press reports that the oil giant has illegally used the Indonesian government's mineral data in obtaining concession rights for part of the oil block from the Malaysian government, Koran Tempo reported on Tuesday.

"They (Shell executives) had asked for an appointment to meet me this week to clarify the media reports," Director General of Oil and Gas Iin Arifin Takhyan said in Jakarta on Monday.

Earlier reports said that in 1999, Shell obtained a contract from the Indonesian government to explore oil and gas in the Ambalat oil block, which is located in the South Sulawesi sea. But two years later, the Dutch company sold the concession area to Italian oil company ENI.

The Malaysian government, which claimed the Ambalat oil block as part of its territory then awarded a similar contract to Shell to carry out oil and gas exploration in the same area.

The Malaysian government's move to award production sharing contracts to Shell and a subsidiary of Petronas, the Malaysian state owned oil company, to explore oil and gas in the Ambalat area, has caused a tension between Indonesia and its neighboring Malaysia. Both countries have deployed warships in the disputed Ambalat offshore area in the South Sulawesi sea. (*)