Pertamina cuts down production cost to $15.6 per barrel

State-owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina has managed to cut down oil production cost to an average of US$15.6 per barrel on efficiency programs, Investor Daily reported on Friday.

?This is the average for all fields as per April, at $15.6 per barrel,? said Pertamina President Director Dwi Sutjipto late Thursday.

He said that with the average production cost, Pertamina continues to enjoy profit despite the current drop in crude price.

Dwi said that Pertamina is also in a better condition as compared to Petronas of Malaysia during the current weak crude price environment as the company?s business is dominated by downstream products, whereas Petronas?s is dominated by the upstream side.

He, however, said that Petronas? funding capacity is much higher than Pertamina?s as the former holds a mineral right, which means that oil reserves are included in its assets. He said that the ongoing revision of the oil and gas law is expected to change this situation, allowing Pertamina to include its reserves as assets, which in turn would double its funding capacity from the current $5 billion per year. (*)