Pertamina pays low price in Singapore refinery deal: Official

State oil and gas firm Pertamina will pay a relatively low fee to Singapore Petroleum Company (SPC) to process Indonesian crude, a company official told Petromindo.Com Friday.

The amount to be paid to SPC was lower than the market price, Pertamina?s downstream director Muchsin Bahar said.

Muchsin, however, refused to mention the fee amount and exact volumes of Pertamina?s crude to be shipped to SPC?s refinery in Singapore.

Meanwhile, SPC said earlier that it had participated in the Pertamina Crude Processing tender on 2 June 2003. ?The tender called for bids for crude processing of up to 125,000 barrels per day for August-November 2003,? said SPC in a report to Singapore Stock Exchange.

The crude processing deal was meant to follow Pertamina?s schedule to overhaul the 125,000 barrels per day Balongan refinery in West Java for routine maintenance for seventy days.

Muchsin further said that Pertamina had started the overhaul program of the Balongan refinery. (godang)