Pertamina asks Petronas to join oil pipeline project
Tuesday, May 30 2000 - 04:00 AM WIB
The state oil and gas company Pertamina has asked Malaysia's oil and gas firm Petronas Nasional Berhad to participate in a US$800 million oil pipeline project in Java, the Kuala Lumpur-based Bernama news agency reported on Monday.
Pertamina president Baihaki Hakim said that the company would also offer upstream projects in offshore of the Markesa Straits to Petronas.
Baihaki was speaking to reporters at the Asia Oil and Gas Conference 2000 in Kuala Lumpur after Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad had earlier called for greater cooperation between Petronas and Pertamina.
He said that equity participation by Petronas in joint projects was subject to negotiations.
Mahathir said national oil companies needed to form alliance to compete with oil "oligopolies" formed by mergers between international oil industry giants and proposed an alliance between Petronas and Pertamina, if Indonesia consented.
Baihaki told reporters that Pertamina was looking for partners from the region.
"It will be a good return on investment. There are many projects to be tapped which are good for our regional partners," he was quoted as saying by Bernama. (*)