Pertamina to process crude oil at Thailand's refinery

State owned oil and gas company Pertamina has asked the Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT) to process its crude oil in the latter's refinery plant, according to a PTT official.

Surong Bulakul, PTT's vice-president for International Supply and Trading, said Pertamina had approached PTT to provide it with fuel products especially diesel oil.

"However, the duration and the amount of fuel which will be provided by PTT have not been negotiated," he told Dow Jones in Bangkok. He added that the crude oil will not be procured from Indonesia but from other sources where shipping costs might be lower.

"We are still assessing the processing coasts of crude oils from a number of sources," he explained.

Pertamina previously processed its crude oil at Shell's refinery plant in Singapore to meet the shortage of fuel in Indonesia.

President Abdurrahman Wahid is scheduled to visit Thailand on Monday next week to seek possibility to improve the country's economic relations. (*)