To be efficient, the government must help Pertamina

    The government should be able to help PT Pertamina (Persero) to get a contract to purchase crude oil directly from the National oil company/NOC of another country. Direct import contracts are considered more efficient because they can cut the cost of procuring crude oil.

PT Pertamina (Persero)

    The Executive Director of the Reforminer Institute, Komaidi Notonegoro, said that purchasing crude oil directly from NOCs of other countries would cut the supply chain of crude oil. This will have an impact on cheaper procurement costs, so it is positive for Pertamina, the government, and the community as consumers of fuel oil (BBM).

the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)

    Pertamina's move to buy crude oil directly from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is considered very positive. However, the company needs to be more aggressive in obtaining long-term direct purchase contracts to secure domestic fuel supplies.

“Generally there is state intervention. The agreement will generally be accompanied by bilateral cooperation in the same sector or other sectors," he said.

    Pertamina is not the first time buying Nigerian crude oil. Previously, for the 2017-2020 period, oil imports from Nigeria reached 30% of the company's total imports. This Nigerian oil belongs to the sweet crude category which is in accordance with the company's refinery specifications.

    However, this crude oil is usually marketed in the international market by International Oil Companies (IOCs) with participating interest (PI) in the oil and gas blocks in the country, such as ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, Total, and BP. Thus, this is the first time Pertamina has conducted a direct purchase contract with NNPC. In obtaining this contract, Pertamina must compete with 500 companies that register.

    According to Komaidi, the state usually helps its national companies to obtain similar agreements. He gave an example, the United States government does not even hesitate to intervene directly to help business entities originating from their country, even though they are not state-owned enterprises.

"Especially if this is Pertamina, which is a State-Owned Enterprise (BUMN)," he asserted.

    Currently, Pertamina seems to be left to do it alone. Whereas on the other hand, the government assigns and demands a very large tax contribution and Non-Tax State Revenue (PNBP) from the company. 

    Regarding the crude oil import contract with NNPC, Corporate Secretary of PT Pertamina Indonesia Refinery Ifki Sukarya said the volume will adjust to the development of refinery supply and demand in the coming year. This purchase contract is one of the efforts to ensure a sufficient supply of crude oil at the refinery.

"The estimated volume of crude oil supply from NNPC is currently around 900,000 barrels per quarter," said Ifki.

    Previously, KPI's Vice President of Feedstock & Inventory Management, Sani Dinar Saifuddin, said that Nigeria is Pertamina's largest source of crude oil imports. Meanwhile, the largest oil import is the type of Arabian Light Crude from Saudi Arabia's national oil company, namely Saudi Aramco.

Investor Daily, Page-10, Friday, July 23, 2021

Pertamina Imports Crude Oil from Nigeria

    PT Pertamina (Persero) through PT Pertamina International Refinery (KPI) received a crude oil procurement contract from Nigeria. The import of crude oil was obtained by Pertamina from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NPCC).

NPCC

    Director of Feedstock and Product Optimization of KPI Yoki Firmandi said this is the first direct contract between Pertamina and NPCC, although Pertamina often buys Nigerian oil. So far, Pertamina has had to buy Nigerian crude oil through the international open market that has a Participating Interest, such as ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, Total, and BP.

Pertamina

"With Pertamina's direct deal with NPCC, the procurement process can take place more efficiently. Of course, getting a contract directly will be more efficient. This is in accordance with the refinery feedstock optimization plan in the future,” said Yoki.

    Pertamina was selected as an awardee from a total of 500 companies that registered. NNPC is a Nigerian National Oil Company, like Pertamina in Indonesia. The direct supply contract is very important for bilateral relations between the two countries. Yoki said that Nigerian crude oil is sweet crude.

    This direct contract has a duration from 2021 to 2023. Yoki explained that KPI was not alone in getting this direct contract. Purchasing crude oil directly to the NPCC is expected to increase the efficiency of purchasing crude oil directly to oil producers.

    KPI synergizes with Subholding Shipping PT Pertamina International Shipping (PIS) in terms of transportation. PIS has just launched two new Very Large Crude Oil Carrier (VLCC) vessels, namely MT Pertamina Prime and MT Pertamina Pride. Later the oil will be transported by a ship owned by PIS.

VLCC MT Pertamina Prime

    In addition, Pertamina International Marketing & Distribution, Pte Ltd (PIMD) under Subholding Commercial and Trading also played a role in supporting KPI in obtaining the contract. Vice President of Feedstock and Inventory Management KPI Sani Dinar Saifuddin said Nigerian oil has a large portion of Pertamina's oil import volume. In the 2017-2020 period, 30 percent of the volume of imported crude oil came from Nigeria. Pertamina's crude imports in 2019 amounted to 75.3 million barrels.

"Nigeria is Pertamina's second-largest source of crude oil imports, after Arabian Light Crude supply to FOC I RU IV Cilacap from NOC Saudi Arabia Aramco," said Sani.

 

Aramco

    Meanwhile, crude oil imports this year are projected to increase significantly compared to 2020. According to Pertamina's 2021 projection data, crude oil imports are targeted to reach 118.4 million barrels, an increase of about 50.4 percent compared to last year's crude oil imports which were only 78.7 percent. million barrels.

Nicke Widyawati

    Pertamina President Director Nicke Widyawati said Pertamina needed to maximize the refinery processing capabilities that needed to be supplied with oil. In addition, there was a decrease in GOI entitlement due to the still low Indonesian oil price (ICP).

"We have an increase in imports of 39.7 million barrels," said Nicke.

    Previously, Nicke projected that the volume of crude oil imports this year would increase to 118.4 million barrels. This projection is up 50.4 percent from the realization of crude oil imports throughout 2020 which reached 78.7 million barrels. The increase in crude oil imports is part of Pertamina's refinery optimization strategy.

Republika, Page-9, Wednesday, July 14, 2021

Pertamina Imports Crude Oil Directly from Nigeria

    PT Pertamina (Persero) through PT Refinery Pertamina Internasional (KPI), managed to get a contract to import crude oil directly from the Nigerian national oil and gas company, namely the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). This direct contract makes the cost of procuring crude oil more efficient. 

the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)

    In general, Nigerian crude oil is marketed in the international market by the International Oil Company (IOC) which has Participating Interest (PI) in the oil and gas blocks in the country, such as Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Shell, Total, and BP. The direct agreement between Pertamina and NNPC makes the procurement process more efficient.

"Of course, getting a direct contract will be more efficient which is in line with the refinery feedstock optimization plan in the future," said KPI's Director of Feedstock & Product Optimization Yoki Firnandi.

    The crude oil import contract with NNPC is valid from this year until 2023. The entire supply of oil is to meet the feedstock needs of Pertamina's refineries. Previously, for the 2017-2020 period, oil imports from Nigeria reached 30% of the company's total imports. This Nigerian oil belongs to the sweet crude category which is following Pertamina's refinery specifications.

Aramco

"Nigeria is Pertamina's second-largest source of crude oil imports, after Arabian Light Crude supply to the Cilacap Refinery from Saudi Arabia's NOC (national oil company/national oil company), Aramco," said Pertamina's Vice President of Feedstock & Inventory Management, Sani Dinar Saifuddin.

    To get the supply of Nigerian crude oil, Pertamina must compete with 500 companies that register. The direct contract with NNPC is Pertamina's first achievement. Pertamina International Marketing & Distribution Pte Ltd (PIMD) under PT Pertamina Patra Niaga as Subholding Commercial Marketing also supported KPI in getting the contract.

the Pertamina Prime VLCC

    Later, the transportation of crude oil from Nigeria will be carried out by PT Pertamina International Shipping (PIS). Moreover, PIS has completed the procurement of two very large crude carriers (VLCC), namely the Pertamina Prime and Pertamina Pride tankers.

Nicke Widyawati

    Previously, Pertamina President Director Nicke Widyawati said that after forming the sub-holding, subsidiaries were given the freedom to formulate types of crude oil that could produce good quality and better yields of valuable products. So, her party decided to use imported crude oil more. 

    Referring to Pertamina's data, imports of crude oil this year will reach 118.4 million barrels, up 39.7 million barrels or 50.44% from last year's imports of only 78.7 million barrels. Crude oil imports in 2021 are also much higher than imports in 2019 which amounted to 86.9 million barrels.

    This strategy can also reduce the trade balance deficit. This is because the price of imports is lower than the price of Indonesia's oil exports. The average purchase of crude oil imports this year is US$ 57.8 per barrel, while Indonesia's average oil exports reach US$ 59.8 per barrel. She estimates that there will still be a surplus of US$ 75 million.

Investor Daily, Page-10, Tuesday, July 13, 2021

Global Oil and Gas Investors Start Leaving Indonesia

    A number of cooperation contract contractors (KKKS) chose to leave after years of investing in Indonesia's oil and gas fields. After Royal Dutch Shell confirmed that it would leave the Masela Block (Maluku), now ConocoPhillips intends to leave the Corridor Block (South Sumatra).

Blogger Agus Purnomo in SKK Migas

    Deputy Head of the Special Task Force for Upstream Oil and Gas Business Activities (SKK Migas) Fatar Yani Abdurrahman revealed that ConocoPhillips' plan to release Participating Interest (PL) ownership shares in the Corridor Block had been submitted to SKK Migas.

"Verbally, it has been conveyed like that, releasing Participating Interest (Pl) shares," he said.

    Although it has stated its intention verbally, ConocoPhillips has not detailed further the reasons for releasing Participating Interest (PL) ownership shares in the Corridor Block. Fatar confirmed that there is no planned meeting with ConocoPhillips. SKK Migas is still waiting for ConocoPhillips' official proposal submission. ConocoPhillips Vice President Commercial and Business Development Taufik Ahmad declined to comment further on this news.

"Until now there has been no additional explanation apart from what was conveyed by SKK Migas," he said.

    Currently, ConocoPhillips is listed as the contractor for the Corridor Block with a 54% participating interest and Repsol Energy has a 36% interest. Meanwhile, Pertamina has a participating stake of 10%. The production sharing contract (PSC) in the Corridor Block will expire on December 20, 2023. 

    A new production sharing contract was signed in 2019, whereby the existing KKKS received a 20-year extension with a Gross Split PSC. In the period 2023-2026, there will be a transition period, in which ConocoPhillips will still be the operator. However, after this period, the operatorship will be transferred to Pertamina.

Repsol

    Later, in the latest production sharing contract, there will be a change in the amount of Pl, namely Pertamina Hulu Energi Corridor controlling 30%, ConocoPhillips 46%, and Repsol 24%. The planned departure of ConocoPhillips adds to the long list of global oil and gas companies leaving Indonesia. 

    In July 2020, Royal Dutch Shell plans to withdraw from the Masela Block Perpetual Gas Project. Shell, which holds a 35% participating stake, is still looking for a replacement candidate.

    Another investor who also intends to leave is PT Chevron Pacific Indonesia (CPI) which will release its participating stake in the Indonesia Deep Water Development (IDD) Block. After Shell left, SKK Migas Deputy Operations Julius Wiratno said the search for partners for the Masela Block is targeted to be completed by the end of this year.

"Shell is in the process of looking for a replacement until the end of this year. Chevron is the same way. This is common in the business world," he said.

    In this situation, Julius ensured that the government could not intervene in the ongoing business-to-business process. The Executive Director of the Reforminer Institute, Komaidi Notonegoro, believes that the government needs to evaluate the upstream oil and gas business regarding the plans of global investors who want to leave.

"However, domestic business actors such as Pertamina need partners," said Komaidi Notonegoro.

    The Special Task Force for Upstream Oil and Gas Business Activities (SKK Migas) projects that this year's oil and gas lifting will reach 97.3% of the target in the 2021 State Budget (APBN). Head of SKK Migas Dwi Soetjipto projects that this year's oil and gas lifting reached 1.6 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (MBOEPD) or lower than the target in the 2021 State Budget of 1,711.78 MBOEPD.

    Referring to the realization in the first quarter of 2021, according to Dwi, there is still pressure on oil and gas production. On the other hand, there was also an unplanned shutdown and a delay in drilling execution. 

"There is also a delay in the onstream schedule of several oil and gas fields so that the total is reduced by 25,000 barrels per day and gas by 99 mmscfd from the target that has been set," he said.

    Dwi added, in order to cover the existing production gap, SKK Migas targets additional drilling activities this year. They predict drilling activities can increase to 700 activities.

Kontan, Page-13, Wednesday, June 2, 2021

Nicke Widyawati is in the rank of the 16 most influential women in the world

 

Global business media, Fortune named Pertamina's President Director Nicke Widyawati as the Most Powerful Woman in the World 2020. Nicke was ranked 16 out of 50 women in the world who were considered to have the ability to control the company they lead. Fortune assessed that Nicke was able to handle a state-owned company with annual revenue of more than US $ 54.6 billion and 32,000 workers worldwide.

Nicke Widyawati

Nicke's ability to control the company was strengthened by the government's trust to re-elect him to lead the company's transformation into a holding company in the oil and gas sector. In response to this, Nicke was grateful and received positively for Fortune's coronation as one of the most influential women in the world by Fortune. Nicke considered that Fortune's ranking was an appreciation not only for herself but also for the entire Pertamina team.

Pertamina 

According to Nicke, as the top level of leadership at the national state-owned oil and gas company, he has the responsibility to ensure Pertamina continues to provide energy for the nation and state and to bring Pertamina as a global energy company that is the driving force for national economic growth.

"The challenges of the future of energy are in sight, and we still prioritize service to the nation, community service, and respond to global energy challenges. This position is the result of the hard work of all elements in Pertamina and also the support of all stakeholders and the Indonesian nation, ”said Nicke.

Fortune also considered Nicke Widyawati as the President Director of Pertamina very worthy of being ranked 16 because he was able to innovate in controlling the company during the Covid-19 pandemic so that Pertamina's losses could be suppressed, far better than other global oil and gas companies.

Fajriyah Usman

VP of Corporate Communication of Pertamina, Fajriyah Usman, said that this list was an annual ranking that specifically highlighted the most influential women in international-based business. Mrs. Nicke Widyawati is the only Indonesian woman on the list of 50 Most Influential Women iN Fortune's 2020 world.

Fortune also placed Pertamina's Managing Director ahead of the CEOs of various well-known companies in the global arena, such as Temasek, which is the largest state-owned company in Singapore, Shell, a Dutch multinational oil and gas company, and other leading CEOs such as Unilever, PepsiCo, Novartis, Puma Energy, Starbucks, Morgan Stanley , etc.

"This achievement makes Pertamina and Indonesia proud. Mrs. Nicke has represented all women in Indonesia in world recognition, "said Fajriyah.

Fajriyah believes this recognition will be an inspiration and role model for all Pertamina employees to continue to work hard to provide energy and bring Pertamina as a global oil and gas company. The concern of Pertamina's Board of Directors, the Board of Commissioners, and all levels of Pertamina's management is how to manage a company that can produce the best performance that can contribute to the nation and state.

"We hope that international trust will continue to increase in Pertamina, which carries a vision as a world-class national energy company and is able to face the global energy challenges going forward," said Fajriyah.

Investor Daily, Page-10, Friday, Oct 23, 2020

Kadin Connects Oil and Gas Business Entrepreneurs with Shell

    The East Java Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) continues to strive to revive the economy of East Java, one of which is by opening up opportunities for entrepreneurs to invest in the oil and gas sector with Shell Indonesia. Previously, the East Java Chamber of Commerce and Industry has also been bridging entrepreneurs in East Java to partner with Pertamina Lubricant.

The East Java Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin)

    East Java Kadin Chairman Adik Dwi Putranto said that although currently, it is still in a pandemic condition, the potential for the oil and gas business is still very attractive and potential. This is because the movement of people and goods is still necessary to maintain the stability of the economy and the country as a whole.

Shell Indonesia

"At the start of the pandemic, the oil and gas business also dropped dramatically due to the implementation of the Large-Scale Sausage Restriction (PSBB) policy in a number of regions. However, currently, it has increased and in East Java, it is close to normal. For this reason, we are very interested in Shell's desire to open up opportunities to do business in oil and gas. Because in these conditions any business opportunity must be tried. This is what is needed and there are already some friends who are thinking about expanding or shifting to other businesses. The East Java Kadin encourages entrepreneurs in East Java to seize these opportunities, "said Adik Dwi Putranto during the East Java Kadin Talk with the theme" The potential of the energy business in the new normal era.

    According to him, these opportunities become more attractive when entrepreneurs find it easy to do business.

"This is the concern of the East Java Chamber of Commerce and Industry. We will try to guard these opportunities into reality. Because there are actually many opportunities but there are also many obstacles, for example in terms of licensing, "he said.

Bhirawa, Page-10, Monday, Oct 19, 2020

32 Companies Interested in Shell Shares in Masela Block

The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) stated that there are 32 oil and gas companies that have been allowed to open data (open data) of the Masela Block. The data will be opened after Shell has released its participating interest (PI) in the Masela Block.

Acting Director-General of Oil and Gas at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Ego Syahrial, confirmed that Shell would indeed release PI ownership in the Abadi LNG Project, the Masela Block. The opening of data for oil and gas companies interested in taking Shell's PI has also been approved.

the Masela Block

"There are 32 oil and gas company candidates who are in the process of opening this data. The government is certainly looking for the best competence, "he said.

According to him, 32 oil and gas companies that are currently disclosing this data are large oil and gas companies. Not only that, but foreign companies interested in taking Shell shares have also been given permission to view the data.

"That means if there are companies from within the country, maybe just a few companies. Who is the biggest company in the country, most importantly Pertamina, Medco, ”said Ego.

Despite the change in shareholders in the Masela Block, Ego emphasized that the Abadi LNG Project must continue.

"Of course, the government's goal is how the Eternal LNG Project will continue and in 2027 the gas can [operate]. That's all, "said Ego.

Dwi Soetjipto

Previously, the Head of the Special Task Force for Upstream Oil and Gas Business Activities (SKK Migas) Dwi Soetjipto revealed that the process of transferring ownership of PI is likely to be completed next year if Shell has obtained a potential buyer.

"I think it will last up to 1-1.5 years. If the divestment will continue, no later than 2021 it must be completed, ”he said.

The Abadi project is targeted to start operating in the second quarter of 2027. The US $ 19.8 billion projects undertaken by Inpex Masela Ltd is projected to produce 150 mmscfd of piped gas and 9.5 million tons of LNG per year.

Currently, Shell holds 35% PI in the Masela Block, while the rest is owned by Inpex. Based on data from SKK Migas, until last March, the work on the Abadi Project's environmental impact analysis (Amdal) approval was still 43.41% of the target of 47.27%.

In addition, the auction process for front end engineering design / FEED onshore liquefied natural gas / LNG refinery facilities, production and floating production facilities, storage and offloading / FPSO, gas pipelines, as well as subsea umbilical, riser, and flowline (SURF) facilities are still taking place.

Oil and Gas Investment

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources noted the realization of national oil and gas investment in the first half of 2020 amounting to the US $ 5.6 billion or only 38.6% of the target of US $ 14.5 billion. However, with the starting to increase in oil prices, oil and gas investment in the future will improve. 

    Acting Director-General of Oil and Gas at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Ego Syahrial, said that his party continues to strive for optimal oil and gas investment climate.

However, the Covid-19 pandemic, which depressed global crude oil prices, he admitted had an impact on national oil and gas investment. This is because the drop in oil prices was followed by cuts in investment budgets by major world oil and gas companies.

"We had targeted oil and gas investment at the US $ 14.5 billion, but the realization still reached the US $ 5.6 billion. So it is still far away, still a third, "he said.

Of the US $ 5.6 billion investment, the US $ 4.85 billion came from the upstream oil and gas sector and the US $ 712.26 million from the downstream oil and gas sector. When compared with the Performance Report (Lakin) of the Directorate General (Ditjen) of Oil and Gas 2019, the realization of downstream oil and gas investment in the first semester of 2020 is quite good.

This is because, in the one year period in 2019, the realization of downstream oil and gas investment was the only US $ 1.06 billion. In detail, the realization of downstream oil and gas investment until last June, namely investment in processing infrastructure of the US $ 299.17 million, transportation of US $ 346.44 million, storage of US $ 21.67 million, and trade of US $ 44.98 million.

ESDM Ministry's Oil and Gas Program Development Director Soerjaningsih revealed that the downstream oil and gas project investment includes a refinery project undertaken by PT Pertamina (Persero).

"The downstream investment comes from the Balikpapan and Tuban refinery projects, as well as the BBM (fuel oil) and BBG (gas fuel) transportation projects," he said.

For the performance of the upstream oil and gas sector, Ego said that the realization of oil lifting as of last June had approached the change target of 705 thousand barrels per day (BPD). Even if compared to the initial target of 755 thousand bpd it is indeed very far away.

“Like it or not, the upstream oil and gas performance is affected by low investment. This is the impact of all major oil and gas companies in the world to cut investment, "he said.

Oil and Gas Block Auction

To increase oil and gas investment in the future, Ego added that the government will auction off 10 conventional oil and gas blocks this year. Along with the preparation for the oil and gas block auction, his party has communicated with potential investors regarding the schedule for opening this oil and gas block auction. Several investors asked for the auction to be postponed for the rest of the year in the hope that oil prices would improve.

"The announcement option in the near future will be decided whether it is the end of the third quarter or the beginning of the fourth quarter of this year," he said.

The oil and gas block auction is also planned not to be held simultaneously. Ego explained that currently the final evaluation of the 10 oil and gas block candidates is being carried out. This evaluation is more attractive terms and conditions and the implementation of production sharing contract / PSC gross split or cost recovery.

"We evaluate it for maximum results by considering input from stakeholders which we do pro-actively," he said.

Based on ESDM Ministry data, the total potential oil resources of the 10 oil and gas blocks are 3.44 billion barrels and 5 trillion cubic feet of gas. The five oil and gas blocks that are regularly auctioned are Merangin III Block in South Sumatra & Jambi (Onshore), Sekayu in South Sumatra (Onshore), North Kangean in East Java (Offshore), Cendrawasih VII in Papua (Offshore), and Mamberamo in Papua ( Onshore and Offshore).

Meanwhile, the five oil and gas blocks being auctioned with a direct bid mechanism are the West Palmerah Block in South Sumatra and Jambi (Onshore), Rangkas in West Java and Banten (Onshore), Liman in East Java (Onshore), Bose in East Nusa Tenggara (Onshore and Offshore). ), as well as Maratua II in Kaltara (Onshore and Offshore).

Investor Daily, Page-12, Thursday, August 6, 2020

Government Reviewing Masela Block Profit Sharing

The government is considering changing the production share of gas or split in the management of the Masela Block. It seems that the plan is to attract investors to replace Royal Dutch Shell (Shell), which plans to sell the 35% participating interest in the Abadi Gas Field. 

Royal Dutch Shell (Shell)

    Referring to the agreement in the head of agreement (HoA) in 2019, the government and lnpex Corporation as the controlling shareholders of the Masela Block agreed to split the gas distribution by 50% (government) and 50% (lnpex and consortium).

Dwi Soetjipto

Head of the Special Task Force for Upstream Oil and Gas Business Activities (SKK Migas), Dwi Soetjipto, assessed that at the time of the continuation of the Shell divestment, his party also saw potential or room for split changes. "We also found points or potentials for this economic project to be in a reasonable government split. We will continue to discuss it," Dwi said.

INPEX CORPORATION

However, he is still reluctant to detail the objectives of the split change and the details of the changes being considered, so it is not yet known whether this profit sharing will increase the government's portion or even increase the INPEX portion. Dwi only said that Masela's liquefied natural gas (LNG) product enthusiasts had reached 50%.

"PLN has expressed an interest of at least 2 to 3 million tons per year (MTPA). From abroad, there are Japan, China, and Taiwan," said Dwi.

With regard to Shell's plan to leave, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) noted that 32 companies are interested in replacing Shell.

Investor interest

Acting Director-General of Oil and Gas, Ego Syahrial confirmed that Shell had conducted open data to see the potential development of the Masela Block.

"It's true that Shell is in the process of opening this data. There are 32 candidates who are currently in the process of opening this data," said Ego Syahrial.

the Masela Block

Even the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources has approved foreign companies to see the block data. However, the government does not want to disclose the names of 32 companies interested in investing in the Masela Block. One thing is for sure, if Shell does leave, the government insists the Masela Block project will continue.

Besides investors, the Masela project is still hampered by land problems. Maluku Governor Murad Ismail promised to be ready to facilitate the land acquisition. Together with the Tanimbar Islands Regency Government and Southwest Maluku, the land acquisition of the Masela Block will be completed through adat and deliberation processes.

"We will solve the land problem as well as possible since it has been discussed that many people have controlled the land," he said.

Therefore, the Maluku Provincial Government is also waiting for the decision and the readiness of lnpex to acquire some land for LNG development.

"We'll just wait. It is impossible to solve the land problem if there is no encouragement from lnpex," he said.

Dwi Soetjipto added land acquisition will begin if the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has been completed.

Kontan, Page-12, Thursday, August 6, 2020