After two rounds of negotiations, Indonesia and Thai rig operator, PTTEP Australasia, failed to reach an agreement on whether the Montara oil slick polluted the Timor Sea. Indonesia has proposed a compensation payment of US$2.2 billion.
After the meeting, the PTTEP said in its statement the company found no verifiable evidence presented by Indonesia’s team to support the claims.
Indonesia said that the report submitted to the PTTEP had gone through analysis by a team of experts set up in Jakarta. “The data has been scientifically proven,” Indonesian advocacy team chief Masnellyarti Hilman told reporters Monday.
Indonesia’s team displayed maps of areas impacted by the oil spill which allegedly covered 70,341 square kilometer in the Timor Sea, affecting nine regencies in the area.
The map of affected areas was determined by satellite images and water samples collected in several locations.
“The impacted areas can be visibly seen,”Masnellyarti said.
Polluted water samples taken from the Timor Sea matched the oil finger print taken from Montara’s rig, she added.
The second meeting was held last week in Perth, Australia, where Indonesia had hoped the company would agree to a US$5 million down payment to repair environmental damage and pay compensation to affected local fishermen. Indonesia has so far spent Rp 1.9 billion ($ 213,483) on operational costs such as surveys, meetings and visits to Perth.
“The PTTEP still questions the methodologies used by Indonesia to take samples and calculate the financial compensation,” Masnellyarti said. “The company also question the accreditation of laboratories assessing water samples from the Timor Sea.”
Indonesia was also asked to submit a full report of findings and claims before scheduling new talks.
“We hope to finish the English-version of the report this month,” she said.
Masnellyarti declined to reveal Indonesia’s exact claim figures, but earlier Transportation Minister Freddy Numberi, who is also the Ocean Oil Spill Emergency Situations National Team chief, said the claim had reached $2.2 billion.
Indonesian officials have repeatedly said the PTTEP had agreed to pay compensation to Indonesia.
In the statement sent to The Jakarta Post, the PTTEP did not mention whether or not it agreed to pay compensation to Indonesia.
“We received claims for damages from the Montara incident in the Timor Sea. The company evaluated the oil slick during the incident and its after effects and found that the spread of the slick was limited to only an area surrounding Montara, PTTEP President and CEO Anon Sirisaengtaksin said, adding that the incident is under control.
The PTTEP and the Australian authorities have studied the long term environmental effects of the spread of oil from Montara in the Timor Sea.
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