Pertamina to import 2 million barrels of fuel

State-owned oil and gas company PT Pertamina plans to import at least 2 million barrels of fuel in order to cope with the fall in the national fuel stocks.

Pertamina?s president director Ari H. Sumarno said in Jakarta on Friday that the national fuel stock had been on the decline during past several weeks due to an increase in the demand and also to anticipate Islamic fasting month Ramadhan and holiday Idul Fitri in the coming months

He said that the national fuel stock is considered to be in a safe level if the fuel reserve is enough to meet the demand for 22 days. At present, the available fuel stock is only enough to meet demand for 20 days.

Meanwhile Pertamina?s marketing director Ahmad Faisal said that the decline in the fuel stock was not caused by the overhaul of the Cilacap refinery plant because the overhaul only affected a part of the processing units.

The Cilacap refinery plant which has total capacity of 350,000 barrels per day is still able to produce 170,000 barrels per day, he said. (bernard)