Pertamina increases prices of lubricant by 10 percent

State-owned oil and gas company PT Pertamina has announced that effective Monday (today) all types of lubricant are increased by an average 10 percent to offset the production costs driven by the rise in prices of raw materials and other supporting components.

?The reason is the prices of components that support the production of lubricants have been on the increase, such as oil base, additives, plastics and transportation. If we do not increase the prices of lubricant, then we will suffer losses. Therefore, increasing the prices of lubricant is a logical reason,? Pertamina?s general manager for the lubricant unit Iqbal Hasan told reporters in Jakarta over the weekend.

Iqbal explained that the lubricant price hikes applied to all kinds of lubricant numbering 40 that were categorized into low, medium and top. The company?s lubricants under the low category include Mesran. While, its lubricants under the category of medium and top include Prima XP and Fastron respectively.

Iqbal underlined the sound financial performance of Pertamina?s lubricant unit, saying that its monthly sale volume reached 30,000 kiloleters or 1000 kiloliter per day.

The company?s lubricant unit recorded lubricant sale volume of R3.7 trillion in 2005, with net profit of Rp800 billion. Its revenue from the sale of lubricant is projected to reach Rp4 trillion in 2006, with net profit of Rp900 billion. (godang)