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ngolan oil and gas giant Sonangol EP expects to start delivering crude oil to PT Pertamina as early as next year to help the country secure supply of the valuable commodity amid growing demand.

'€œIt may take between one to three months'€ to detail the cooperation '€” including the contracts, shipping and the number of cargoes to be delivered '€”, Sonangol board of directors chairman Francisco de Lemos Jose Maria said after a meeting with Pertamina and the energy and mineral resources minister on Monday. '€œWe are talking about around one cargo a month,'€ Lemos said when asked about the volume the company would send to Indonesia.

Angola currently produces about 1.7 million barrel of oil per day (bopd) while domestic consumption is only at 128,000 bopd, according to figures from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Angola'€™s proven crude oil reserves now stand at 9 billion barrel.

Meanwhile, Indonesia, a former member of OPEC, is currently suffering from higher oil consumption amid declining national output as old oil fields have been depleted due to past exploitation. The country'€™s oil production currently stands at around 800,000 bopd while consumption has hit 1.6 million bopd.

'€œ[Indonesia] is a big country with 200 plus million consumers that need energy supplies,'€ Lemos spoke of the country'€™s promising market.

Sonangol and Pertamina signed last week a framework of agreement, under which the two firms have agreed to cooperate in the upstream sector of the oil and gas business, development of petroleum refinery and petrochemical refinery, as well as cooperation in the import and export of refined products, crude oil and natural gas.

'€œThe basic principle of a good supply chain is that we must have alternative sources, fair relation with the market and independency. This is the start that we look for when looking at alternatives and whenever possible, make a direct purchases,'€ Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said said.

Under Sonangol and Pertamina'€™s agreement, the two firms will also asses the possibility of building refineries in the country.

Pertamina acting president director Muhammad Husen said the two firms had established task force teams to work on details of their cooperation, including refinery development. The economical capacity of a refinery in the country would be 200,000 to 300,000 bopd, he added.

'€œWe expect to have a long-term contract for supply guarantee for 15 to 20 years. We hope to break ground [on development] as soon as possible,'€ Husen said.

The cooperation is also expected to open opportunities for Pertamina to do business overseas, including in Angola. Pertamina is currently undergoing a massive overseas expansion to boost its hydrocarbon portfolio as domestic oil production continues to decline.

The company said earlier that it expected to have 600,000 barrel of oil equivalent per day (boepd) of oil and gas production from overseas blocks by 2025.

The overseas portfolio is part of the company'€™s ambitious goal to book 2.2 million boepd in total production, from domestic and international operations, by 2025.

This year, Pertamina aims to report 554,174 boepd in output, which would be a 19 percent increase compared to 465,220 boepd in 2013. However, it would likely reach only 94 percent of the target, Husen said. For 2015, Pertamina, which ranks 122nd on the prestigious Fortune 500 list, is targeting to see 9 percent growth in production, according to Husen.