TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo is yet to determine the final location of the liquid natural gas terminal for Masela Block in Maluku. Currently, a debate is still ongoing between those who prefer the facility to be built onshore against others who claimed it should be built offshore.
"First, i want to meet with the contractors and investors to clear things out. Before that happens, I don't want to make a decision," said Jokowi in a meeting to discuss the issue on Monday, February 1, 2016.
Jokowi also hoped that the economic ministers that were present in the meeting could provide suggestions.
Debates on the location of the Masela Block facility have been ongoing since last year. The debate was triggered by Coordinating Maritime Minister Rizal Ramli's statement, who urged the Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Special Task Force (SKK Migas) to review the location of the Masela Block.
According to Rizal, building the Masela Block facility off shore will resulted in higher cost compared to building it on shore. Rizal said that building the facility off shore will costs the government US$19 billion while building it on shore will only costs US$14 billion.
ISTMAN M.P.
