AGO names former Pertamina manager graft suspect

GRAFT CASE - JAKARTA. The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) has named a former official at state-owned energy giant Pertamina a suspect in an alleged graft case relating to investment in the Basker Manta Gummy (BMG) Australia oil block.

Investigators at the office of the junior attorney for special crimes named Pertamina’s former MNA upstream directorate Manager, identified only as BK.

“Investigators summoned, questioned and named BK a suspect in a letter issued on Jan. 23,” AGO spokesman Muhammad Rum said on Monday as reported by antaranews.com

The suspect was charged with violating the 2001 law on corruption.

The case started when Pertamina, through its subsidiary PT Pertamina Hulu Energi, acquired 10 percent of the shares in Australia-based Roc Oil Ltd in 2009 for AU$66.2 million with the assumption of gaining 812 barrels of oil per day.

However, the BMG Australia block could only produce 252 barrels per day for PHE Australia Pty Ltd.

Then on Nov. 5, 2010, the oil block was shut down after Roc Oil Lt, Beach Petroleum, Sojitz Energy, and Cieco Energy decided to halt crude oil production because of an uneconomical oil field.