Indonesia demands $2.4b over oil spill

JAKARTA - Indonesia has demanded 2.4 billion dollars in compensation from a Thai oil company for damages related to a spill off the northwestern coast of Australia last year, a senior official said on Tuesday.

Transportation Minister Freddy Numberi said the claim for 22 trillion rupiah ($2.4 billion) had been presented during talks with PTT Australasia, a unit of Thailand's PTT Exploration and Production PCL, in Australia last week.

"Our calculation includes potential damage to the coral reef in the affected area," Numberi was quoted as saying by Dow Jones Newswires.