News & Media

Bangkok, May 6, 2017 – We refer to news reports regarding a lawsuit filed by the Ministry of Environment, Indonesia against PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited (PTTEP) and its subsidiary PTTEP Australasia (Ashmore Cartier) Pty Ltd (or ‘PTTEP AA’) at the Central Jakarta District Court, claiming compensation for damage which it is alleged resulted from a well blow-out during development of the company’s Montara field in Australian waters of the Timor Sea in 2009.

PTTEP would like to clarify that, following the Montara incident, PTTEP AA as the operator of the Montara field coordinated with the Australian Government to fund independent research institutions to conduct scientific studies on the environmental impacts that may have resulted from the oil spill. The studies found no lasting impact on the highly sensitive and biodiverse ecosystems in Australian waters in the areas closest to Indonesian waters. Satellite imagery, aerial surveys and trajectory modelling showed that the majority of oil remained in Australian waters and that no oil reached the Australian or Indonesian coastlines.

In 2010, PTTEP and PTTEP AA received a claim for compensation from the Government of Indonesia (GoI) regarding alleged impacts on the environment and the fishery sector in Indonesia.

Representatives of PTTEP AA met with the GoI on a number of occasions in 2010 and 2011 and negotiated sincerely and cooperatively in good faith with the intention of establishing an independent committee mechanism under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish whether there had been any damage to the environment in Indonesia, and if so, how this would be compensated. To further this objective, PTTEP AA submitted independent scientific research results to the GoI, including the results of water sampling in and around the reefs closest to Indonesian waters where testing had showed no presence of hydrocarbons from the Montara oil spill, and that the condition of the coral communities in that area was consistent with surveys conducted before the spill. At the time, the GoI would not permit PTTEP AA to access Indonesian waters around West Timor for further scientific studies.

PTTEP and PTTEP AA would like to reaffirm that it welcomes any further scientifically-proven facts and evidence to verify any environmental impact, and PTTEP and PTTEP AA have always maintained that they will responsiblity if the impacts alleged are scientifically proved.

The existing studies are publicly available through both the (Australian) Department of the Environment and PTTEP AA websites via the following links:
http://www.environment.gov.au/node/18259
http://www.au.pttep.com/sustainable-development/environmental-monitoring/

For more information, please contact the Communications and Public Affairs Division.
Tongchit Pongorapin +66 (0) 2 537 4587
Kamolwan Chintarat +66 (0) 2 537 4381
Nalin Viboonchat  +66 (0) 2 537 4834
E-mail: PTTEPCorpCom@pttep.com