Pertamina awaits Singapore court decision on Petral case

State-owned oil and gas company PT Pertamina is still waiting for a Singapore court decision, which is scheduled for January 21, 2004, over the US$8.2 million forgery case involving its Singapore-based subsidiary Energy Trading Limited (Petral), Kompas newspaper reported in its Saturday edition.

Then only, the company will decide who will be the probable suspect, and report the case to the Indonesian police, Pertamina president director Ariffi Nawawi told reporters in Jakarta on Thursday night.

Ariffi mentioned that Pertamina will settle the case after the court’s decision.

The Singapore court will decide whether $8.2 million was withdrawn from a bank account using false signature or not. If the signature was not falsified, it will be easier for Pertamina to take further action.

He admitted Petral case is a test for Pertamina to change the public perception that it is a clean company.

That’s why, Pertamina wants to settle this case transparently, he added.

Singapore's white-collar crime unit had investigated Petral for nearly eight months for possible

Petral was incorporated in 1992 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Pertamina to market Indonesian crude and oil products and to buy foreign crude and products for the state-owned oil firm.

In 2002, the Petral Group moved more than 140,000 barrels a day (bpd) of crude and 181,000 bpd of oil products, according to its Web site (www.pnatrade.com).

Petral enjoys a concessional Singapore corporate tax rate of 10 percent. The standard rate is 22 percent. (*)