By Fergus Jensen
JAKARTA, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Appointing a permanentleadership at Indonesia's graft-tainted energy regulator will bea top priority for the new government of Southeast Asia'slargest oil producer, the energy and mineral resources ministersaid on Friday.
Earlier this year, the former head of Indonesia's energyregulator SKKMigas, Rudi Rubiandini, was sentenced to sevenyears in prison for his role in a major graft scandal thatreached the top levels of the oil ministry - including theformer minister.
The corruption investigations into SKKMigas and the energyministry, coupled with a court ruling in late 2012 that declaredthe former regulator BPMigas unconstitutional, have led todelays and indecision for energy companies looking to invest inIndonesia. Rubiandini's replacement was never formally appointedas chief of the regulator.
Sudirman Said, who previously held senior positions at stateenergy company Pertamina and PT Indika Energy, was appointed as Energy and Mineral ResourcesMinister last Sunday by President Joko Widodo.
"We have some pending matters - defining and making adefinitive SKKMigas leadership," Said told reporters on Friday,prior to meeting the current management of the regulator.
SKKMigas was formed to temporarily continue the regulator'sremit - managing the country's upstream oil and gas productionactivities with oil and gas firms - until a new oil and gas lawis introduced.
"In the near future we hope to continue the process offorming a fixed leadership," Said said, adding that the energyministry planned to issue a recommendation to Widodo so that thepermanent regulator leadership could be appointed "as soon aspossible."
Said added that his team also were studying a long-delayedrevision of Indonesia's oil and gas law that would further shoreup the regulator structure.
"We in the ministry are now studying if we can reach animmediate agreement - because the draft (law) has been discussednumerous times," said Said. "We hope to overcome all theseobstacles."
Earlier this week, Sudirman told reporters that he wouldalso make tackling corruption within the energy ministry a keygoal, and that Indonesia needed to adopt a "sense of crisis"with regards to its future energy needs.
The latter comments, along with the fact that the ESDM isnow under the authority of the new Coordinating Ministry forMartime, suggest that exploration of offshore energy projectscould be a priority for the new government. Earlier this week,Said also indicated that Indonesia's ban on mineral ore exportswas likely to remain in place.
Indonesia was once self-sufficient in oil and gas but hasbeen struggling for years to attract investment to haltdeclining output from a peak of around 1.6 million barrels perday in 1995. Indonesia has targeted output of 818,000 bpd in2014.
The former OPEC member's oil output is declining, and thecountry has faced criticism for unclear regulations andcomplaints about a nationalist stance on resources.
The oil and gas sector is also politically crucial,accounting for about a fifth of Indonesia's government revenue.
Oil majors currently operating in the sprawling archipelagoinclude BP Plc, Chevron and Exxon Mobil. (Writing by Michael Taylor; Editing by Richard Pullin)
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