Petronas will enter RI?s fuel retail market

Malaysian state owned oil company Petronas will enter the Indonesian fuel retail market to take advantage of the country?s newly liberalized fuel market, Bisnis Indonesia reported on Tuesday.

Faris Mustaffa, one of Petronas? senior executive, said in Kuala Lumpur on Monday that as the first step of entering the Indonesian fuel market, Petronas would start selling its lubricant oil Synthium here by the end of this year.

He acknowledged that the competition in the Indonesian lubricant oil market was so tight as between 1,000 and 2,000 brands of lubricant oil were competing in the market.

?But we see there is still room for us to compete,? he added.

Faris said in addition to lubricant oil, Petronas would also enter the fuel retail market through its integrated fuel sale service. ?We have studied this market for two years and we are now waiting for a license from the Indonesian government,? he said. (*)