Purnomo Yusgiantoro named Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources
Thursday, August 9 2001 - 05:12 AM WIB
Purnomo, a Catholic and a father of two, was deputy governor of the military's think thank, the National Resilience Institute (Lemhanas), until he was appointed by former President Abdurrahman Wahid as Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources in August last year to replace Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
He had an ample experience in the country's oil and gas industry and assumed several posts at the ministry and state oil and gas company Pertamina before being appointed as the head of the ministry.
During his ministerial post, he faced some major problems, including the suspension by American oil and gas company ExxonMobil Corp. of its gas operation in Aceh, which forced Pertamina to stop its liquefied natural gas (LNG) production in the province for months.
Analysts say the case has tarnished Indonesia's reputation as a reliable LNG supplier, but Purnomo managed to solve the case, persuaded ExxonMobil to resume its operation despite continued security problems in Aceh. As such, he could prevent the case from causing more damage to Indonesia financially.
Born on June 16, 1951 in Semarang, Purnomo graduated from the prestigious Institute Technology of Bandung's School of Oil where he received scholarship from French company Total, which is now called TotalFinaElf.
He then pursued his studies at the Colorado School of Mines, where he received a doctoral degree. He took a brief teaching job at the university before deciding to return to Indonesia. (Godang/Alex)