Pertamina’s former president director Karen Agustiawan has become the latest in a host of managers at Indonesia’s national oil and gas company to be investigated on corruption charges, writes Amanda Battersby.
Agustiawan is under investigation by the Attorney General’s Office regarding the 2009 acquisition of a stake in Roc Oil's then-producing Basker Manta Gummy (BMG) project off Victoria, Australia.
However, a year after Pertamina took a 10% stake in the BMG asset, oil production was shut in due to it being uneconomical — resulting in estimated losses totalling 560 billion rupiah ($42.1 million) to the Indonesian state.
It is alleged that Pertamina’s own due diligence of the acquisition found it to be unfeasible given the reserves and expected liquids production. However Agustiawan, via subsidiary Pertamina Hulu Energi, went ahead with the purchase.
Liquids production at BMG remains suspended today, although the current partners Cooper Energy and Beach Energy in 2015 unveiled a preferred concept for the Manta shallow-water wet gas development.
This project schedule envisaged the final investment decision being taken in 2019 that could lead to gas flowing again by mid-2021.
The BMG fields straddle production licences VIC/L26, VIC/L27 and VIC/L28, and lie in water depths between 100 metres and 200 metres.
Agustiawan, the first woman appointed to head Pertamina, was interviewed last month and subsequently interrogated by specialist investigators probing the BMG stake acquisition.
She had previously been summoned by the Indonesian authorities in relation to the procurement of electric vehicles for the 2013 Apec summit on the Indonesian island of Bali.
Despite Agustiawan being again linked to alleged corrupt practices, the AGO has not yet imposed the usual overseas travel ban on Pertamina’s ex-boss.
