Libya may supply crude for Banten refinery project

State oil and gas firm PT Pertamina said on Tuesday that it was looking crude supply from Libya for its planned 300,000 barrel per day (bpd) refinery project in Banten.

?Aside from the proposed refinery, we are also in negotiation with Libya to supply our existing refineries because Libya has crude that is suitable for our refineries,? Pertamina's President Director Ari H Soemarno said on Tuesday.

Pertamina is looking to Libya because Iran, which had agreed to jointly develop and provide crude for the refinery, has turned out to be unable to supply all the crude needs of the new refinery, he said.

Earlier, Pertamina?s Processing Director Suroso Atmomartoyo said that the company was currently in talks with a number of countries to secure the crude supply. He refused to name the countries, saying the negotiations were still at the early stages.

?Iran?s commitment remains uncertain. So we are looking for other sources to supply the crude. We must have to secure crude supplies before the refinery is completed,? Suroso said on Oct 10, 2007. (Godang)