Pruning Pertamina's Power

IT was with deep regret that members of the House of Representatives (DPR) Commission VIII working committee agreed to the Oil & Gas Draft Bill on Tuesday last week. Observers and experts, who have been very vocal about the State Mining and Oil Company (Pertamina) in the past, will also raise their voices in disagreement over this decree. They are concerned that Pertamina—that holds all mining rights as well as the monopoly on the supply an...