Pertamina plans to go public next year

State owned oil and gas company PT Pertamina expects to begin its privatization program next year by selling shares in its upstream unit to either the public or strategic investors, Bisnis Indonesia reported on Wednesday.

Pertamina?s director for development and human resources, Eteng A. Salam said in Jakarta on Tuesday that the company?s upstream sector would be more prepared to go public rather than the downstream unit.

He, however, said that Pertamina would be first restructured before realizing the privatization plan under which the company? upstream and downstream activities would be operated by two different units.

?We are now preparing the holding company to operate the upstream sector, while the downstream sector will be operated by its subsidiary,? he said, adding that the upstream sector would cover all exploration and production activities, while the downstream sector would include refinery and processing operations.

Pertamina announced a plan last year to issue US$500 bonds to finance the expansion of the company?s downstream business. But the company?s spokesman said that the planed bond offering had not yet been decided.

?It is being assessed whether or not we will go ahead with the bond offering plan,? he said. (*)