[Kabar-indonesia] U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Pertamina Appeal In Geothermal Dispute

[JoyoNews at aol.com]

High Court Rejects Pertamina Appeal In Geothermal Dispute

By Mark H. Anderson

WASHINGTON, October 2 (Dow Jones)--The U.S. Supreme Court 
on Monday for the third time declined to get involved in a $300 million 
contract dispute between Indonesia's Pertamina and Karaha Bodas Co.

Karaha Bodas, a partnership controlled by Florida-based FPL Group Inc.
(FPL) and Caithness Energy LLC of New York, has for several years been
trying to get the Indonesian company to pay off a judgment awarded in
2000 by a Swiss arbitration panel. The judgment came out of a dispute
stemming from a geothermal energy project between the companies that
fell apart during the Asian financial crisis.

The U.S. high court turned away the appeal without comment, leaving
intact a federal court ruling that orders part of the judgment be paid
from accounts in U.S. banks.

The Indonesian government and Pertamina had filed appeals with the
Supreme Court, challenging orders from U.S. federal courts to pay the
judgment plus interest.

Pertamina and Karaha Bodas first contracted in 1994 to develop West
Java geothermal energy projects. The projects were suspended, however,
in 1997, along with dozens of other Indonesian infrastructure
projects. The resulting arbitration ended with an award to Karaha
Bodas of $111.1 million in lost investment and $150 million in lost
profits.

The cases are Indonesia v. Karaha Bodas, 05-1571, and Pertamina v.
Karaha Bodas, 05-1573.

------------------------------------------
Joyo Indonesia News Service
------------------------------------------