Riau ready to work with Pertamina in operating CPP oil block

The provincial administration of Riau is ready to cooperate with state oil and gas company Pertamina to jointly operate and manage the Coastal Plain Pekanbaru (CPP) oil block, according to Governor Saleh Djasit.

Speaking to reporters in Pekanbaru on Wednesday, the governor said that the provincial administration was ready to work with any companies including Pertamina as long as the partnership was based on mutual benefits.

"We are ready to forge partnership with any parties, including Pertamina as long as the cooperation scheme with them is based on a win-win solution," he was quoted as saying by Riau Pos.

The Ministry of Mines and Energy said recently that it would recommend Pertamina as a partner of the Riau province in managing and operating the CPP oil field next year.

He said that the province had been asked to form a joint venture with Pertamina to operate the oil block after the current contract currently held by PT Caltex Pacific Indonesia expires in August next year.

The government initially decided to appoint a joint venture between Pertamina and Caltex to take over the operation and the management of the oil field. But the plan was immediately cancelled after President Abdurrahman Wahid early this year decided the province as the most rightful institution to operate the oil block, a move widely seen as a political concession to ease the independence movement in the province.

The province had been given three options to manage the oil field; operating the oil block under a join venture with Pertamina or with Caltex, or with both of the oil giants. But Riau rejected the offer and demanded to manage the CPP oil field with its own partner.

The government then gave the province until August next month to submit a concrete proposal to carry out the job. But until now, the province has yet to decide which partners it will cooperate with.

Meanwhile in Jakarta, dozens of student grouped in the federation of Riau students (Hipemari) staged protests on Wednesday afternoon demanding the government to soon transfer the authority in managing and oil block to the Riau provincial administration.

Their staged their protests in the front of the headquarter of Pertamina, and offices of PT Caltex and the ministry of mines and energy. (*)