Eric Watkins
Senior Correspondent

LOS ANGELES, June 16 -- Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono met recently with top foreign oil and gas company executives in a closed-door meeting also attended by Vice-President Jusuf Kalla, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro, PT Pertamina Pres. Ari Soemarno, and R. Priyono, newly appointed head of oil and gas regulatory body BPMigas

Officials did not disclose the purpose of the meeting, saying only that it focused on "oil-related" issues to enable the president and vice-president to meet with foreign oil and gas firms holding concessions in Indonesia. The meeting coincided with concerns in the country over oil and gas contractors' cost recovery claims to the government.

According to a recent editorial in the Jakarta Post, "Aside from the whopping total cost, a major concern [of cost recovery claims] has been the dubious nature of many expenses, especially when the country is in dire need of higher revenues from the oil and gas sector to help provide better public facilities."