Corruption Eradication Committee Names 2 US Companies Related to Alleged Corruption in Pertamina's LNG Procurement

JAKARTA - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) said that two companies from the United States were involved in alleged corruption in the procurement of PT Pertamina (Persero) liquified natural gas (LNG) in 2011-2021. One of them is Blackstone which is headquartered in New York, United States.

"There are two companies from America, one of which is (Blackstone, ed.)," said Acting Deputy for Enforcement and Execution of the Corruption Eradication Commission, Asep Guntur, to journalists, quoted on Saturday, September 23.

Apart from Blackstone, another company is Corpus Christi Liquefaction (CCL) LLC. Asep said the two of them were suspected of collaborating with PT Pertamina in the LNG procurement process.

He explained that CCL discovered new natural gas reserves to be explored and PT Pertamina made an investment. The basis of this agreement is due to domestic needs, especially to supply PT PLN (Persero).

"(Pertamina-CCL, ed.) carried out an agreement like that and then Blackstone was actually not there (exploring natural gas, ed.). There will be a connection later with financing from other parties," he stressed.

However, these needs turned out to be inappropriate and instead resulted in excess capacity. "So where should I sell? Create a company to sell cheaply because there is a lot of it (left over, ed)," explained Asep.

As previously reported, the Corruption Eradication Committee (KPK) has detained the former Main Director of PT Pertamina (Persero) Karen Agustiawan. He is a suspect in alleged corruption in LNG procurement.

In this case, it is suspected that the LNG procurement process as an alternative to overcome the gas shortage in the country was not studied. Karen Agustiawan, who at that time served as President Director of PT Pertamina, also did not report her decision to the board of commissioners.

"GKK aka KA unilaterally immediately decided to enter into a contract agreement with the United States company CCL (Corpus Christi Liquefaction) LLC without conducting a thorough study and analysis and not reporting it to the Board of Commissioners of PT Pertamina Persero," said KPK Chairman Firli Bahuri in a press conference at the building. Red and White KPK, Kuningan Persada, South Jakarta, Wednesday, September 19.

Firli revealed that the reporting should be done because it will be brought up at the General Meeting of Shareholders (GMS). "So the actions of GKK aka KA did not receive the blessing and approval of the government at that time," he stressed.

Because of her actions, Karen caused the country to lose around 140 million United States dollars or IDR 2.1 trillion. The reason is that the LNG cargo purchased from the United States company CCL LLC was not absorbed in the domestic market.

As a result, the cargo was over supplied, PT Pertamina finally made sales on the international market at a loss. In fact, this commodity never entered Indonesia and was used for its original purpose.