RI seeks to buy crude from Iran
Monday, May 25 2015 - 01:05 AM WIB
Indonesia?s Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Sudirman Said, and Coordinating Minister for the Economy Sofyan Djalil met with Iranian authorities including Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zangeneh over the weekend in Tehran to among others explore the possibility of importing crude from Iran.
Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources Spokesman Dadan Kusdiana said in a statement Sunday that the meeting was a follow up of bilateral talks on April 23 between President Joko Widodo and his Iranian counterpart during the Asia Africa Conference.
Dadan said that Indonesia was also looking for opportunities to participate in upstream oil and gas activities in Iran, and invite the latter country to participate in developing refineries in Indonesia.
Other areas of potential cooperation include human resources capacity building and sharing of experience as well as technical skill in the oil and gas sector.
Dadan said that the two countries have agreed to set up a joint infrastructure and energy commission to monitor the implementation of the results of the weekend meeting.
?Indonesia?s demand for oil will continue to increase in the future, while Iran needs a new market to absorb its production,? said Dadan.
Dadan, however, said that further talks are needed with regards to the planned crude import particularly in the area of payment system amid the current sanction by the United Nation against Iran.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak