Indonesia's energy ministry plans to set up a unit to take over the duties of energy sector regulator BPMigas, which was dismantled by a constitutional court ruling, the deputy minister said on Wednesday.

Rudi Rubiandini, deputy minister in the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, told Reuters any dealings with the oil and gas industry would be suspended until the unit is established.

BPMigas managed contracts with energy majors such as Chevron , Exxon Mobil and CNOOC. The regulator, which was decreed unconstitutional by the court on Tuesday, had said the fate of current energy production sharing agreements was now uncertain.

Rubiandini said the new Unit for the Implementation of Upstream Oil and Gas Activity was aimed at ensuring there was no "vacuum period or uncertainty" for the oil and gas industry.

"Restructuring on making state-owned business entities (to replace BPMigas) will be completed with the House of Representatives, but because it takes time to do this, dealings with industry are temporarily being stopped," he said via mobile phone text message.

A presidential decree would be needed to establish the unit, Rubiandini added.

The constitutional court ruling is the latest in a series of moves this year that have shaken the confidence of investors in the resources sector of Southeast Asia's largest economy. Others have included regulatory changes in the mining industry.

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