20 companies to join PLN's fuel procurement tender

As many as 20 companies will take part in state-owned electricity company PLN's tender to procure a million kiloliters of high speed diesel (HSD) fuel, the company official said.

The companies interested in the tender include PT Shell Indonesia, PT Elnusa Petrofin, PT Petro Niaga, PT Sigma Rancang Bangun Persada and PT Petra Andalan Nusantara, a unit of Malaysian oil and gas firm Petronas, PLN's deputy chairman for the fuel procurement, Widayanto said on Monday.

The 20 companies had taken the necessary documents to take part in the fuel procurement tender, he said.

PLN said in earlier announcement that the tender aims to fulfill the fuel needs of its power plants in Belawan of North Sumatra, Grati of East Java, Pontianak of West Kalimantan and Tanjung Batu of East Kalimantan from 2008 until 2010.

Widayanto as quoted by Koran Tempo as saying that State Minister for State Enterprises Sofjan Djalil had asked PLN to buy fuel below the price offered by Pertamina. In the 2008 state budget, the price assumption for PLN fuel is five percent above the Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS) benchmark. (godang)