Pertamina agrees to guarantee naphtha supply to Chandra Asri

Pertamina has in principle agreed to guarantee a long-term supply of naphtha to PT Chandra Asri Petrochemical Center (CAPC) which is currently trying hard to reduce its dependence on imported products, Bisnis Indonesia reported on Thursday.

Pertamina?s director for downstream operation, Muchsin Bahar, said in Jakarta on Wednesday that Pertamina could guarantee the continuity of the naphtha supply to CAPC as long as it would provide a commercial benefit to the company.

He, however, said Pertamina as a business entity could not provide a long-term contract for the supply of naphtha to CAPC. "We can guarantee the continuity of the supply but we cannot make a long-term contract for such a deal," he said.

The Cilegon ?based petrochemical giant has asked the government to lobby Pertamina so that the latter will be able to provide naphtha supply under a long-term contract.

According to Muchsin the contract could be made longer than a year given the fluctuation of naphtha prices in international market. (*)