TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - State-owned oil and gas company Pertamina signed an agreement on crude processing with Shell International Eastern Trading Company (Sietco). The partnership is expected to reduce the number Premium-type fuel import by six million barrels until the end of the year.
"In the past, we always have to deal with major pressure to import products. [The partnership] is a step to reduce direct import," Pertamina CEO Dwi Soetjipto said on Wednesday, August 31, 2016.
Pertamina's cooperation with Sietco was actually signed on June 2016. Today, August 31, 2016, both companies agreed to add more clauses related to cooperation in Pertamax and jet fuel processing. The cooperation, according to Dwo, can be extended of future prospects showed promising profits.
Under the cooperation, Sietco will process one million barrels of Pertamina's crude every month. The oil will be brought in from the West Qurna I field in Iraq, which some its shares are owned by Pertamina.
Sietco had been delivering Premium fuel starting on July and August 2016. Pertamina’s Vice President for Integrated Supply Chain Daniel Purba, said that Pertamax and jet fuel processing will commence next October.
Daniel said that the cooperation can improve efficiency by 15 percent compared to purchasing products from the spot market. "Purchasing cost is now cheaper," Daniel said.
Pertamina also planned to process crudes produced from oil fields located in Malaysia and Algeria, each producing 900,000 and 300,000 barrels per month, respectively. Previously, Pertamina had only sold the crude in the export market.
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