Pertamina reschedules delivery of diesel imports to next year

State-owned oil and gas company PT Pertamina has won approval from its foreign suppliers to delay the delivery of this year?s diesel oil contracts to next year due to an excess in its diesel oil stocks.

Pertamina?s spokesman Anang Rizkani Noor said in Jakarta on Friday that the volume of diesel oil imports which had been scheduled until next year had reached 10 cargos or about 4 million barrels.

He said that foreign diesel oil suppliers mostly from the Middle East such as Kuwait Petroleum Company understood Pertamina?s overstock problem which has taken place since the end of last year due to the significant drop in the domestic demand.

In order to reduce the overstock, Pertamina has also offered discounted prices and longer term of contracts to attract more local buyers buy the company?s diesel oil.

Separately, Pertamina?s vice president for marketing and commerce Hanung Budya said that a number of local buyers had agreed this week to buy a total of 116,000 kiloliters for March delivery.

The buyers include PT Aneka Kimia Raya, Jagat Energi, Petro Andalan and Petronas. ?We are also still negotiating the sales for April delivery,? he said

With the new sales contract, Pertamina has sold about 186,000 kiloliters from its diesel inventory since early this year and has reduced the excess of the company?s diesel oil which reached 600,000 kiloliters.

It means that Pertamina needs to sell another 416,000 kiloliters to put the company?s diesels stocks to an ideal level of the average 25-day of supply, he added.

Pertamina?s diesel oil sales had dropped by about 30 percent to 50,000 barrels per day from 70,000 barrels per day due to the decline in the demand from the country?s industries. The low demand had resulted in the increase in the stock to the equivalent of a 40-day supply from the average of a 25-day supply in normal days. (godang)