Jakarta, July 11 (ANTARA) - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) which has already netted or brought to justice numerous "untouchables" such as law-makers, public prosecutors and ranking government officials for graft or corruption, is now turning its attention to people in the country's least transparent business, the oil and gas sector.
The KPK is gathering information on alleged corruption in the Upstream Oil and Gas Regulating Body (BP Migas). Officials at state-owned oil company Pertamina and the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) must also get ready to be summoned by the KPK.
"We are now at the stage of collecting information regarding BP Migas," KPK's deputy chairman for prevention, M Jasin, was quoted as saying by Republika daily on Monday.
The KPK is to begin its investigations in the oil sector by verifying official data on oil lifting that have been produced through calculations considered not transparent. It will investigate alleged mistakes in the mechanism of oil lifting and reporting the proceeds of oil and gas sales.
KPK Deputy Chairman Haryono said on Thursday it was believed the results of the official oil and gas lifting calculations so far were contradictory to the facts on the ground. The calculation of oil and gas exploration proceeds were not carried out in the oil drilling fields but in Jakarta by a number of government agencies.
According to Haryono, the results of the ecisting calculation mechanism could well be erroneous because those who had done the calculations did not know the conditions in the field, including data on exploited natural wealth.
The results of calculations made in Jakarta must match the amount of oil and gas pumped up in the mining locations. For this purpose, the KPK and the BP Migas agreed to set up a technical team.
The team will be charged with the task of evaluating various oil and gas management practices, particularly those related to practices so far considered not transparent.
Haryono said the team would work to solve various technical problems, among others those related to the lifting mechanism, supervision mechanism which was viewed to be still weak and improvements in the asset management mechanism.
BP Migas Chief Priyono said he hailed the KPK's efforts to improve management in the oil and gas sector. "We are ready to carry out improvements," he said.
The KPK's initiative to improve management in the oil and gas sector was based on a report by the State Audit Board (BPK) which cast doubt on the veracity of t the results of the oil and gas lifting calculations.
According to Republika, the Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) has received a copy of a BPK audit report which indicated misappropriations of oil and gas proceeds amounting to Rp120.3 trillion. The money was not recorded as state revenue and was spent not through the state budget.
The KPK also received a report from ICW about a corruption case in BP Migas. Therefore, ICW urged the KPK to investigate the alleged corruption case in the oil and gas sector which had the potential to inflict Rp194 trillion in losses to the state.
"We have reported the corruption allegations in BP Migas to the KPK. We call on the anti-graft commission to investigate it immediately," ICW's coordinator for legal and court monitoring affairs Emerson Juntho was quoted as saying.
The low income the state received from the oil and gas exploitation activities, according to Emerson, indicated rampant corruption in BP Migas. This was why, there was no transparency in the oil and gas mining production sector.
"The absence of transparency in the oil and gas production sector is also reflected in the swelling of production costs that have to be borne by the government," Emerson said.
The head of ICW's data distribution center, Firdaus Elyas, said based on data collected from BP Migas, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) and the Ministry of Finance, the ICW had found indications of irregularities that had happened during the past seven years and could have caused Rp194 trillion in losses to the state.
The alleged corruption of the state revenues from the oil and gas sector was detected by the ICW when it found that the amount of Indonesia's reported oil production was smaller than that actually produced.
According ICW's calculation, more than 16.1 million barrels were lost every year as a result of the difference between the reported amount and the real oil and gas being produced.
Therefore, the KPK will carry out recalculation of oil lifting. Of course, the recalculation of oil lifting is hailed by the public. At least oil producing provinces will be informed of the actual amount of oil and gas pumped up from their wells.
"We hail and support the KPK's efforts to recalculate oil lifting because they will also benefit South Sumatra province," Elianuddin HB, deputy chairman of South Sumatra's Regional Legislative Assembly (DPRD), said on Thursday.
He said so far South Sumatra had never been informed about how much oil and gas it was producing. With the recalculation by the KPK there would be openness on the amount of its oil and gas produced in the province.
"Thus, we will know the amount of the revenue the province will receive from the oil production-sharing contracts," he said.
South Sumatra simply received its share from the production sharing proceeds given by the central government without knowing how much oil and gas was pumped up from its wells.
"So, we hail the KPK plan to recalculate oil lifting in this province," he said.
Indonesia's oil production reached its first peak in 1977, at approximately 1.6 million barrels per day, rising from 500,000 barrels per day in just 10 years. Production peaked a second time in 1995, again just over 1.6 million barrels a day.
But since 1995, production has steadily declined and in 2006 was down to just 1 million barrels per day, or roughly a 37.5 percent decline, making the country a net oil importer. (T.A014/A/HAJM/12;50/A/F001) 11-07-2008 12:55:53
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