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View all search resultsPertamina 'eligible' to be sole gas aggregator: Expert
State oil and gas company Pertamina is eligible to be mandated as a sole gas aggregator that handles the management of Indonesiaâs gas exploration activities from upstream to downstream due to its capacity, experience and position as a state-owned enterprise, an expert has said
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tate oil and gas company Pertamina is eligible to be mandated as a sole gas aggregator that handles the management of Indonesia's gas exploration activities from upstream to downstream due to its capacity, experience and position as a state-owned enterprise, an expert has said.
'If we ask who should become the gas aggregator, it is Pertamina that is eligible for the duty,' said Budyatna, a public policy expert from the University of Indonesia, as quoted by Antara news agency in Jakarta on Tuesday.
Citing Article 33 (3) of the 1945 Constitution, Budyatna said: 'The earth, water and natural resources contained in it are controlled by the state and used for the optimal welfare of the people'.
He said it was clearly stipulated by the article that appointing Pertamina as the sole gas aggregator from upstream to downstream was the mandate of the 1945 Constitution, which should not be violated.
The important thing was to ensure its solid leadership, transparency and accountability, as well as to prevent any interventions in Pertamina's duties as a gas aggregator.
'There should not be 'illegal passengers' who suddenly intervene and erode Pertamina's authority as a sole gas aggregator,' said Budyatna.
Such intervention once occurred in the management of oil exploration in the Cepu block in East Java, he said, citing an example.
The Indonesian government previously decided that it would manage 85 percent of oil-exploration activities in the Cepu block; but 55 percent of the block's oil management eventually fell into the hands of private parties.
Oil and gas expert Pri Agung Rakhmanto said it was hoped that any institution to be given a mandate as a gas aggregator could play the role in the same way it was carried out by state-owned logistics agency Bulog in the past.
'It means the institution should have full authority as a price stabilizer as well as an authority in buying and selling,' he said. (ebf)(++++)
