Pertamina, Sonatrach mull cooperation to operate Tanjung Uban fuel storage

State oil and gas company Pertamina said on Friday that a team from Algerian national oil company Sonatrach will come to Jakarta this month to explore the possibility to jointly operate and expand fuel storage in Tanjung Uban in Bintan Island, Riau province.

?Pertamina considers this possible cooperation as highly strategic moves as Sonatrach is also seeking opportunity to expand its crude and LPG market to Asia-Pacific. Sonatrach is already in cooperation to supply crude to Pertamina and we are keen to develop this cooperation even further,? said Baihaki.

Pertamina?s trading subsidiary Petral is planning to propose to its parent company that it turns the 1.5-million barrels Tanjung Uban clean storage facility in Bintan island, south of Singapore, into a commercial venture.

The Tanjung Uban facility is currently used by Pertamina to store clean products. The facility currently has a jetty, which only accommodates up to 40,000 dead weight ton (dwt) ships. If the proposal is approved, Petral hopes to upgrade the facility to accomodate ships up to 120,000 dwt.

The Pertamina subsidiary hopes to also double the storage capacity to about 3-million barrels if it takes over the facility. "This facility can offer blending facilities that the commercial storages in Singapore offer," said an industry source. (godang)