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AKARTA: After months of bickering, Thai rig operator PTTEP Australasia conceded that the oil slick produced by last year’s explosion on one of its rigs in the Montara field had reached Indonesia’s Timor Sea.

A team from the PTTEP also promised to conduct the field study to verify financial losses claimed by the Indonesian government. The team from the PTTEP and Indonesian officials reached the agreement during its latest meeting in Singapore over the weekend.

“PTTEP admits its oil spill reached Indonesian waters,” head of the Indonesian advocacy team tasked with negotiating with PTTEP over the oil spill, Masnellyarti Hilman, told reporters on Monday.

She said that PTTEP, however, had claimed that the oil spill never reached the coastal areas in East Nusa Tenggara province.

“A team from PTTEP and Indonesia will visit the area [East Nusa Tenggara] to clarify our claims. They need to talk with the affected people listed in our claims,” she said.

The two teams were expected to meet next year to discuss the details of the financial claims.

The Montara field, operated by PTTEP, exploded in August 2009.

Indonesia earlier claimed the oil spill affected nine Indonesian regencies around Timor Sea, polluting 70,341 square kilometers of water and coastline.

PTTEP said it had found no verifiable evidence to support any of these claims. — JP