"As long as the new bill on oil and gas has not been passed."Jakarta (ANTARA News) - House Commission VII chairman Sutan Bhatoegana has stated that the House members will soon discuss a revision of the law on oil and gas, after the dissolution of upstream oil and gas regulating agency BP Migas.
"We will soon discuss a new bill on oil and gas regulation with the government. I believe it won`t take a long time because we only need to revise the old law," he said here on Thursday.
Bhatoegana stated that the parliament had decided to pass the new bill on oil and gas regulation within the coming six months.
He also said the government, through the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, had set up a task force - SKSP Migas - as the temporary regulator of the upstream oil and gas sector.
"As long as the new bill on oil and gas has not been passed, the nation`s upstream oil and gas sector will be handled temporarily by SKSP Migas under the supervision of Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources," Bhatoegana explained.
"It is important to speed up the implementation of a new oil and gas law in order to establish a permanent upstream regulator that can replace BP Migas," he pointed out.
Earlier, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources` director general for oil and gas affairs, Evita Legowo, said there were "several options to replace BP Migas".
"At least there are three - a new independent upstream unit, or a new state-owned enterprise under the supervision of Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, or state-owned oil and gas company PT Pertamina," she stated.
"The government will carry out the Constitutional Court (MK) ruling, which states that a transition from BP Migas to the Ministry can only be done through a new oil and gas regulation," Evita added.
(U.Y012/INE/KR-BSR/F001)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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