Thai firm rejects Indonesian oil spill cash claim

Yahoo News 3 Sep 10;

SYDNEY (AFP) – A Thai-owned firm Friday rejected Indonesia's 2.4 billion US dollar compensation claim over a major oil spill off Australia's north which campaigners say hit the livelihoods of thousands of poor fishermen.

PTTEP Australasia, a unit of Thailand's PTT Exploration and Production PCL, said it "has not accepted any claim" by Indonesia over the months-long Montara spill, Australia's worst offshore drilling accident.

"PTTEP Australasia wishes to confirm that it has not accepted any claim made by the Indonesian government for compensation," a statement said, adding that "no verifiable scientific evidence" has been given to support the claim.

Indonesia made the claim this week, saying it included compensation for damage to coral reefs.

The leak in the Timor Sea from August 21 to November 3 was the worst from an offshore oil platform in Australian history, although it was smaller than the recent BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Like the BP spill, it dragged on for months as the company tried to plug the flow with a relief well, a process that eventually succeeded.

It also led to calls for tougher regulation of offshore drilling and criticism of the authorities responsible for monitoring the operation.

Evidence given at a commission of inquiry showed the Montara slick grew to almost 90,000 square kilometres (35,000 square miles) and entered Indonesian waters, according to environmental group WWF.

The West Timor Care Foundation, which supports poor fishermen in eastern Indonesia, estimates the spill affected the livelihoods of about 18,000 fishermen. Businesses such as seaweed and pearl farms were also reportedly hit.

Following this year's Gulf of Mexico spill, which was the biggest maritime spill on record and spewed some 4.9 million barrels of oil, BP set up a 20-billion-dollar compensation fund.

Indonesia to Present Evidence for $2.4b Oil Spill Claim Soon, Negotiator Says
Fidelis E. Satriastanti Jakarta Globe 4 Sep 10;

Jakarta. Indonesian officials have still not compiled the evidence needed to back up their hefty compensation claim against a Thai-owned firm for last year’s oil spill off Australia’s north coast, but will do so soon, they said on Friday.

“We will try to complete it before the holiday season but there is no deadline [for the submission],” said Masnellyarti Hilman, the government’s lead negotiator and head of the advocacy team. He was referring to the Sept. 10 and 11 Idul Fitri holidays.

Officials said Indonesia formally presented PTTEP Australasia, a subsidiary of Thailand’s state-controlled PTT Exploration and Production, with a Rp 22 trillion ($2.4 billion) bill on Aug. 26 for damage caused by the oil spill, said to be Australia’s worst offshore drilling incident.

Transportation Minister Freddy Numberi, who heads the government team handling the spill, said the company was still studying the claim and would verify it within a month.

However, PTTEP has already said Indonesia did not provide any “verifiable scientific evidence” to back up its claim.

On Thursday, PTTEP issued a statement saying it “has not accepted any claim made by the Indonesian government for compensation.” In an e-mail message, the company also denied it would verify the claim within a month.

“At the 26 August meeting, the [Indonesian] delegation leader agreed to provide PTTEP with the Indonesian government’s data and evidence that it proposes to rely on to support its claim, once it is translated into English,” the e-mail said.

Furthermore, the e-mail read that it was agreed at the Aug. 26 meeting that all data and evidence produced by the Indonesian government in support of its claim would need to be analyzed by appropriate parties before PTTEP would be in a position to attend any further meeting to discuss the claim.

“PTTEP will also provide to the Indonesian government the scientific studies from the long- term environmental monitoring program which the company is funding in cooperation with the [Australian] Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts [DEWHA],” the e-mail stated.

Indonesian officials have been under fire for their handling of the compensation claim. The West Timor Care Foundation (YPTB), which supports fishermen in eastern Indonesia, said the Indonesian negotiating team only presented an overview of the claim, without any supporting data.

“This [case is one of] shameful oversight on the part of the government,” said Ferdi Tanoni, from YPTB.

East Nusa Tenggara Officials Asked to Document Oil Spill Damage for Claim
Eras Poke Jakarta Globe 5 Sep 10;

Kupang. East Nusa Tenggara Governor Frans Lebu Raya said he had ordered local officials to gather scientific data to back the nation’s Rp 22 trillion ($2.4 billion) claim for compensation over last year’s Timor Sea oil spill.

The claim, presented at an Aug. 26 meeting between a government team and representatives from PTTEP Australasia, a subsidiary of Thailand’s state-controlled PTT Exploration & Production, was widely criticized for not being backed by scientific evidence.

The government’s team has since said it would compile the data “before the holiday season” that kicks off with Idul Fitri on Sept. 10.

“Our claims weren’t rejected yet, but the data isn’t accurate, especially pertaining to victims of the oil spill,” the governor said on Saturday.

“I’ve ordered all district heads and mayors to collect data on their constituents affected by the oil spill. After we have collected all the data, an independent team will verify it.”

Frans also said the data to be submitted by the district and municipal administrations “need to be clear, starting from the names, addresses and villages,” to facilitate the verification process and ultimately the payment of compensation.

Frans said the compensation claim already submitted to PTTEP included costs for coral reef and mangrove swamp rehabilitation over the next 10 years and seaweed farm recovery over the next two years.

The spill was the result of a blowout at the Montara wellhead platform in the Timor Sea, off the northern coast of Australia, in August 2009. The leak was only plugged 74 days later and created a large oil slick that reached Indonesian waters.

The well, located 690 kilometers west of Darwin, is operated by PTTEP.

On Friday, an Indonesian official said the government would soon compile the evidence needed to back up its hefty compensation claim.

“We will try to complete it before the holiday season but there is no deadline [for the submission],” said Masnellyarti Hilman, the head of the government’s advocacy team.

The statement came a day after PTTEP said it “has not accepted any claim made by the Indonesian government for compensation.”

Meanwhile, Christine Mason, an Australian environmental activist and legal adviser for the West Timor Care Foundation, said the government did not seem to care about the impact of the oil spill, citing the lack of a lawsuit against PTTEP.

“This is very weird [compared to the spate of litigation in] the oil spill case in the Gulf of Mexico,” Mason said.

“This is a humanitarian hazard that needs to be handled as soon as possible, [and should] not only be limited to a submission of compensation claims.”

She also said the government’s claim needed to be backed by a “scientific investigation in the field to measure all economic and ecological impact.”

“Only after that can all claims be presented,” she said, adding that the Timor Sea oil spill could be considered as just as severe as other cases, including the recent Gulf oil spill and the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska.

“However, it’s really weird that there’s been no lawsuit from the Indonesian government against the company,” the activist said, adding: “I think that’s just illogical.”

Mason, who is also an expert on international oil law, said she was prepared to represent the West Timor Care Foundation’s own claims against PTTEP.