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tate oil and gas firm PT Pertamina announced on Tuesday that it had exported three containers of marine lubricant to South Korea, indicating that the company was serious about expanding its lubricant business internationally.

Pertamina vice president for lubricants Supriyanto Dwi Hutomo reported that his company had shipped five marine lubricant products — Medripal 307, Medripal 570, Salyx 440, Fastron Series and Meditran series — to Hyundai Heavy Industry.

“This is the early phase of our exports to Korea. In the future, we hope that we can sell not only marine lubricants, but also industrial and automotive lubricants,” he said in a press statement sent by the company.

Pertamina has also exported marine lubricants to China and Singapore, he said. The company also plans to export its marine lubricants to Australia in the near future, he added.

In addition to marine lubricants, Pertamina has exported automotive lubricants to 14 countries, including Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, China, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Taiwan and Timor Leste.

“These additions to the number of Pertamina’s lubricant export destinations show how consumers in other countries trust our products,” Supriyanto said.

Pertamina announced earlier that it targeted to sell between 125,000 and 150,000 kiloliters of lubricants overseas this year, with Australia, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates projected to become its biggest buyers.

Supriyanto said that the company was currently in the process of entering the German and Spanish markets to sell automotive and industrial lubricants.

Last year, the company sold a total of 458,000 kiloliters of lubricant in the domestic and global markets. This year, sales are estimated to reach 546,000 kiloliters.

According to the company’s data, in the first quarter of this year, Pertamina booked Rp 37.5 billion (US$4.37 million) in unaudited gross profits from overseas lubricant sales. During the period, the company’s total revenue from lubricants topped Rp 2 trillion.

In the domestic market, Supriyanto revealed, the company held 60 percent of the total market share. He added that in 2010, his firm won a contract worth Rp 176 billion to supply 9,338 kiloliters of industrial lubricant to state electricity company PT PLN’s power plants.

Pertamina announced that it planned to set up a lubricant plant in an Asian country with a total investment of around $35 million. It is currently conducting feasibility studies in Japan and China to determine the best place to construct the plant.

As reported earlier, Pertamina lubricant marketing manager for overseas markets Redesmon Munir said that to boost the company’s lubricant businesses, it would set up a subsidiary company called PT Pertamina Lubricants, which was expected to begin operating in January next year at the latest.

The planned company was estimated to have total assets of Rp 1.5 trillion and would target to hold an initial public offering two years after its establishment, he revealed.

Pertamina is eager to expand its businesses not only in the downstream sector, but also in the upstream sector.

The company said earlier that it was interested in acquiring a 51 percent stake in the gas-rich Mahakam block when the contract with current operators French-based Total and Japan-based Inpex ended in 2017.

State oil-and-gas firm Pertamina produces lubricant products in its own refineries.