Pertamina cancels diesel export plan

State-owned oil and gas company Pertamina has cancelled its plan to export an excess of its diesel stocks as it prefers to sell them to local buyers with a special price.

Pertamina?s Marketing and Commercial Director Achmad Faisal said in Jakarta on Monday that instead of being exported, the excess of the diesel stocks would be sold to state owned electricity company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) with a special price.

In addition to PLN, Pertamina has also offered the diesel to other distributors of non-subsidized fuels including Shell, Petronas, AKR and Petro Andalan, he said, adding that the largest buyer would be given a price discount of up to 10 percent.

?We are still negotiating the prices, and we hope the plan can be realized as soon as possible,? he said.

In order to reduce the amount of the diesel stock, Pertamina has planned to export about 400,000 barrels of them, but Achmad said in February 2009 the firm had yet to find buyers who offer good price. (Bernard)