Pertamina ready to negotiate with PLN on fuel price

State oil and gas company PT Pertamina has provided an opportunity to state electricity firm PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) to negotiate the price. So there is no need for Pertamina to participate in the PLN?s tender for its purchase of High Speed Diesel (HSD) for the power plants, Koran Tempo reported Friday.

?Why should we join the tender?. Just appoint Pertamina directly. We are state enterprises, so we can negotiate and moreover, the money will go to state coffers,? Pertamina spokesman Toharso said on Thursday.

According to Toharso, PLN can convey to Pertamina about how much price it wants for the HSD fuel, including discount.

He said further that the purchase of fuel without tender, economically, can benefit PLN in the long-term. Because if the PLN late in making payments, there will not be any penalty, which can affect the fuel supply to power plants.

PLN?s director of primary energy and power generation Ali Herman told the newspaper on Wednesday that PLN will not fail in paying its fuel bills if it buys through tender process because the company has already allocated money in its budget this year.

Earlier, the government has asked PLN to reconsider its decision to tender the supply of one million kiloliters of HSD. (*)