Mitsubishi, Itochu, others interested to fund Pertamina's fuel transit terminal in E. Java

A number of foreign companies, including Mitsubishi and Itochu from Japan, have expressed interest in providing funds for the construction of the US$140 million fuels transit terminal facility, with a capacity of 300,000 kiloliters in Tuban, East Java that will start construction 2007.

State oil company PT Pertamina?s deputy director for marketing and trading Hanung Budya said that the interested companies are subject to evaluation

?Five companies are now under evaluation to know which ones will be eligible to participate in the project as a funds provider,? he said Thursday in Bali. Other interested companies are SK Corp from Korea and Petronas from Malaysia.

Construction will take around 18 months to complete, he said.

Pertamina wants at least 50 percent stake in the project, he added. (Godang)