Pertamina negotiating with foreign refineries on crude processing deals

By Febry Silaban

State owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina is negotiating crude processing deal (CPD) with a refineries in five Asia Pacific countries, namely India, Singapore, South Korea, Japan and China, to process Pertamina?s crude production share from Basra, Iraq

?Our crude production share from Basra amounts to 800,000 barrels per month. We shall not however deliver 800,000 barrels (per month) but 1 or 2 million barrels in each shipment,? Pertamina?s Vice President of Integrated Supply Chain (ISC) Daniel Purba said.

Under the CPD, the petroleum product will be taken by Pertamina while the refinery will receive processing fee or margin fee from the company.

Daniel said the Basra crude is of high sulfuric type and Pertamina has only one refinery able to process such crude, namely Cilacap refinery. ?Basra crude is not good enough for Cilacap refinery. As such (if processed at Cilacap) the products will not be good,? he said.

Editing by Johannes Simbolon