Pertamina communication vice president Wianda Pusponegoro said the ISC had been conducting procurement activities of crude oil and fuel to push down production costs in line with what the company had previously planned.

'€œThis could be proven from the efficiency value of crude oil and fuel procurement amounting to around $20 million during the period of January-February, or about $10 million per month. This is already in line with our target,'€ Wianda said as quoted by Antara in Jakarta on Sunday.

She said that by the end of 2015, the efficiency value of crude oil and fuel procurement via ISC was targeted to reach around $122 million or equal to Rp 1.6 trillion.

'€œIn facing a situation in which the oil price is relatively low, the company has applied various initiatives for efficiency,'€ said Wianda.

Among the efficiency measures conducted by ISC are logistic arrangements by changing the importation pattern to only free on board (FOB) from previously cost and freight (CIF), and also carrying out budget efficiency measures from letter of credit costs, she said.

ISC is a Pertamina-controlled unit that replaces Pertamina Energy Trading Limited's (Petral) roles in crude oil and fuel procurement.

The role transfer was recommended by the Oil and Gas Management Reform Team led by Faisal Basri at the end of December 2014. Petral was then directed to become a world-class oil trading company and is currently carrying out market intelligence functions. Petral, which is still based in Singapore, became an ISC partner. (ebf)(+++)

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