Pertamina may choose BNP Paribas or Mitsui to finance Bekasi project

State oil and gas firm Pertamina is considering whether to raise loans from either BNP Paribas or Mitsui Bank from for its oil development project in Pondok Tengah, Bekasi.

 

"We have negotiated with them and the result is positive. We will determine the winner soon," said Frederick Siahaan, Financial Director of Pertamina, in Jakarta on Wednesday.

 

Pertamina is seeking loans amounting US$250 million to finance the US$475 million project. The remainder will be covered with the company's internal resources.

 

He said both banks offered loans with repayable period of between five to seven years and an interest rate lower than those offered by the government's banks.

 

Pertamina is also evaluating four financial advisors, namely Sumitomo-Mitsui Bank Corp, Calyon, Standard Chartered and BNP Paribas to finance Donggi-Senoro LNG plant.

 

In this project, Pertamina is seeking a loan amounting to $800 million - $1 billion, or 70 percent of the total needs. The remainder will provided by three shareholders of the plant, namely Pertamina as much as 29 percent, Medco (20 percent) and Mitsubishi (51 percent), he said. (godang)