Pertamina receives first LPG delivery from Iran, seeks to expand cooperation

State-owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina received on Thursday the first LPG cargo from Iran as the company seeks to expand cooperation with the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC).

Pertamina said in a statement that the Pertamina Gas 2 very large carrier (VLGC), carrying 44,000 metric tons of LPG, arrived on Thursday at the Kalbut Port, Situbondo, in East Java.

Pertamina President Director Dwi Soetjipto said in the statement that NIOC has become a new supplier of LPG for Pertamina, and the arrival of the maiden shipment will open the possibility of further expanding business cooperation between the two companies, both upstream and downstream.

He said that the transaction was made following a G to G agreement signed on February 24 of this year by the government of the two countries, followed by the signing of heads of agreement between Pertamina and NIOC on May 30.

Under the agreement, Pertamina and NIOC agreed for the sale and purchase of a total of 600,000 metric tons of LPG for 2016 and 2017.

Pertamina expects a second LPG cargo from Iran to arrive around November 20 of this year.

In addition to the LPG transaction, Pertamina and NIOC had also signed a MoU to carry out preliminary study on two giant oil fields in Iran, the Ab-Teymour and Mansouri (Bangestan-Asmari), which have combined reserves of more than 5 billion barrels as per August 2016.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak