FYI,
----- Forwarded Message ---- From: Lauti Sutedja <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, June 16, 2008 11:46:01 AM Subject: [Geologi UGM] PINOKIO vs Cost Recovery Claims Berita dari The Jakarta Post nih !!! HAYOOO..... apa hubungan Eksplorasi Migas ama Pinokio ???? Bingung kan ??!!! Jangan - jangan Pinokio dah jadi geologist ya?? Gimana sih sebenarnya nentuin klaim cost recovery ? Asyik juga ya bisa masukin biaya entertainment dan ongkos Umroh ke klaim cost recovery. Belum lagi ngasih sumbangan kok dimasukin klaim. Niat nyumbang nggak seehhh ??!!! Dari The jakarta Post : Claims include Pinocchio DVD, golf clubs, dance class, charities Wed, 06/11/2008 10:37 AM | Business It's hard to directly relate oil and gas operations to a DVD of Pinocchio, the wooden puppet whose nose grew longer every time he told a lie. But the DVD, along with other expenses for wine, parties, golf clubs, dancing courses, charities and even Islamic haj pilgrimages to Saudi Arabia are among the costs oil and gas contractors submitted for government rebates in 2005. In an audit of the 2005 accounts of several oil and gas concessions belonging to Total E&P Indonesie, ExxonMobil Oil Indonesia Inc. and Chevron Indonesia, the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) found around US$16 million in questionable claims. The claims were all related to community development, training and education, sports and recreational activities and sponsorships. "There are numerous items which should be excluded from the cost recovery provision. For example, costs for community development. The firms seem to be generous but at the end of the day they pass on the bill to the government," said BPK senior auditor Widodo H. Mumpuni. In the audit of Total's Mahakam Block operation in Kalimantan, the BPK found some $2.62 million and Rp 9.46 billion ($1.02 million) in spending related to community development, training and recreation. Aside from the Pinocchio DVD, Total filed cost recovery claims for a water skiing boat engine, diving, recreation, French film festival sponsorship, HIV campaign, dancing teachers and farewell parties. Total spokeswoman Judith J. Navarro-Dipodiputro refused to comment on the findings, saying BPMigas was more authorized to respond. In the BPK audit report, the firm said the expenses were aimed at employee development under its "macro strategy" to improve worker and family welfare. The company also said BPMigas had approved some of the spending. "Although the amount is small compared to the billions of dollars the oil and gas contractors contribute to the state, there is an issue of appropriateness here," said analyst Firdaus Ilyas of Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW). "For the contractors, costs for the luxuries are just peanuts. But for millions of poor Indonesians they mean a lot. Such claims have reduced the government share of the oil proceeds, which could be used for building schools," he said. In its audit, the BPK also found some $217,587 of questionable expenses claimed by ExxonMobil's B Block, NSO Block and Pase Block for community development, which included funds for workers to play golf, bowling and farewell parties. ExxonMobil spokeswoman Deva Rachman didn't reply to The Jakarta Post's written requests for clarification. However, the company said in the BPK report that BPMigas had approved such costs. Other BPK findings include claims for charitable expenses. Chevron's operation in East Kalimantan, for example, obtained a rebate for $19,650 in charities for the tsunami disaster in Aceh and Nias in 2005, saying such claims were possible under its work contract with the government. "Most of the companies brought their flags to Aceh to give away to charities. They made their name known, but later they asked the government to pay them back. So they were not contributing at all," said Widodo. The charities were part of Chevron's $9.55 million in expenses that the BPK categorized as nonrecoverable as they were spent for activities not directly related to operations, such as for sports, training for expatriate workers and accounting services. However, Chevron agreed to exclude from the claims only $492,430 for the accounting expense and $44,780 for the training. The BPK also highlighted problems of open clauses in the contracts and in the regulations for benefit packages and working requirements for expatriates. In 2005, Chevron spent some $1.22 million on expatriates who were no longer involved in its Indonesian operations, according to the BPK report. Some expenses were even allocated for workers who never worked here, it said. Not until the BPK found such irregularities did Chevron agree to exclude them from its cost recovery claims. "If the BPK had not spotted the irregularities, the companies might have walked away free," said Widodo. In its written statement to the Post, Chevron said it was subject to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which functions as its internal control. In response to all the findings, BPMigas deputy chairman Abdul Muin said the BPK should not make a big deal of such spending as the contributions of the oil firms to the state were far bigger. "For some cases, I agree the expenses are not appropriate. But the BPK should not focus on these kinds of things, which are of course, very unpopular among the public. They should go for the big one instead," he said, adding that it was not in the interests of big oil and gas contractors to abuse the cost recovery mechanism. Chevron also said the "issue should not be looked at in a piecemeal fashion". Chevron said it had numerous community development initiatives that were funded by its parent company, Chevron Corporation, such as for environmental and education programs. Following the 2004 tsunami, for example, Chevron provided assistance through the Chevron Aceh Recovery Initiative for the rehabilitation of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam and Nias Island, where funding of $14.7 million was exclusively provided by Chevron Corporation, thus not from the government's cost recovery fund. -- JP/Rendi Akhmad Witular, with additional reporting from Ika Krismantari ***** Gabung Milis, email ke [EMAIL PROTECTED] isi subject subscribe Keluar, email ke [EMAIL PROTECTED] isi subject unsubscribe Informasi Alumni di http://kumpulgeologi.wordpress.com
