Pertamina to import 5 million barrels of fuel next month

State oil and gas company Pertamina will import about 5 million barrels of petroleum-based fuels next month to meet the growing fuel needs in the country, the company?s senior executive has said.

?The import for next month should be lower than this month. But due to the worsening of the traffic problem, the import volume will be equal with those imported last month,? the commercial director Djaelani Sutomo said.

Meanwhile financial director Afdal Bahaudin said that the state oil and gas company expected to issue US dollar-denominated bonds worth between US$1.5 billion and $2billion next year to partly finance the company?s capital expenditures this year.

Pertamina said earlier that it would allocate up to Rp 37.1 trillion for capital expenditure this year to support the company?s target to boost crude oil and gas production. About 76.4 percent of the total will be allocated for downstream operations while the other 23.6 percent for upstream activities. (giok)