PTTEP acknowledges oil spill in Timor Sea: Minister

JAKARTA. Thailand-based oil and gas producer PTTEP Australasia has finally acknowledged responsibility for an oil spill in the Timor Sea that occurred in 2009, an Indonesian minister said.

“We held a meeting with them and they have confessed. Actually, we need the confession,” Transportation Minister Freddy Numberi said in Jakarta on Tuesday.

The company would hold another meeting with the Indonesian government to discuss data on sea contamination, Freddy said.

“We still demand Rp 23 trillion (US$2.56 billion) in compensation from the company to repair the damages,” Freddy said.

PTTEP Australasia’s oil platform in the Montara field off Australia’s northern coast exploded and spilled more than 500,000 liters of crude oil per day into the Timor Sea in August 2009.

Thirty-eight percent of Indonesia’s marine territory in the Timor Sea were reportedly affected by the spill. Local fishermen’s catches reportedly dropped and thousands of tons of shallow water fish died, while marine mammals, including whales, also fell victim. (Nani Afrida/ The Jakarta Post)