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mid concerns over the disbandment of the upstream oil and gas regulator BPMigas, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik held a meeting with executives of major oil and gas producers on Friday evening in Bali to ensure the court’s ruling on the agency would not frighten investors in the oil and gas sector.

 The two-hour meeting, which took place at the Patra Jasa hotel in Tuban, Bali, was held on the sidelines of the minister’s two-day visit to Bali to attend the declaration of Mt. Batur as part of UNESCO’s Global Geopark Network.

Jero said the gathering was important to provide clarity after a surprising verdict from the Constitutional Court earlier this week dissolved BPMigas, the former watchdog of the nation’s oil and gas business.

“The government is seeking to reassure investors that the oil and gas business is secure and those companies can continue their business in the country with peace of mind,” Jero said in a telephone interview with The Jakarta Post after the meeting.

 “We want oil and gas companies to be certain that even though BPMigas has been dissolved, the industry’s situation remains normal, indeed it’s actually getting better. All existing contracts remain valid and should there be new ones, I am the one who will sign them.”

Several members of the Indonesian Petroleum Association (IPA), which accounts for about 90 percent of Indonesia’s production, attended the meeting that was held a day after the government formed a new task force to temporarily take over the role of BPMigas. Jero has been assigned by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to lead the task force until a new law to form a new regulatory body is drafted.

Top executives who attended the meeting included US-based energy giant Chevron’s Jeff Shellebarger, the managing director of the IndoAsia business unit and US-based ExxonMobil Indonesia president Richard J. Owen.

Senior officials of Pertamina EP, an upstream subsidiary of the state-run oil and gas firm PT Pertamina, publicly listed energy firm Medco Energy, UK-based Premier Oil Plc., Salamander Energy and Chinese PetroChina also attended the meeting.

IPA vice chairman Sammy Hamzah, who is also the president director of coal bed methane (CBM) contractor PT Ephindo, told the Post that the association members were now reassured about continuing their business as usual after the meeting.

“Our focus is to ensure that business activities in the industry will continue as usual. We do not want any hindrance especially of our operations,” he said over the phone.

“This impromptu meeting was very important because the government has shown its quick reaction to the issue. We really appreciate it.”

On Tuesday, the Constitutional Court dissolved BPMigas after the court annulled all articles related to the existence of the regulatory body stipulated in Law No. 22/2001 on oil and gas following a judicial review requested by several Islam-based organizations and other individuals.

The court’s verdict leaves 29 oil and gas concessions due to expire between 2013 and 2021, whose fate had yet to be determined by the government, in limbo as the disbandment of BPMigas ended all of the negotiations.

The most anticipated decision is whether to extend the current concession for the Mahakam Block in East Kalimantan when it expires in 2017. Other blocks include Siak, operated by Chevron Pacific Indonesia, expiring in 2013; Salawati, operated by Intermega Sabaku, in 2015; Corridor, operated by ConocoPhillips Indonesia, in 2016; Kepala Burung, operated by PetroChina, in 2016; and Arun B, operated by ExxonMobil, in 2017.

Several other projects have also been put on hold due to the disbandment such as British oil and gas giant BP’s US$12 billion plan to expand its massive Tangguh LNG plant in West Papua as well as the $10 billion plan by Japan’s Inpex to build an LNG train in the gas-rich Masela block in the Arafura Sea.