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tate-run oil and gas firm PT Pertamina is liquidating its Singapore-based trading arm Pertamina Energy Trading Ltd. (Petral) next year, a bold move to remove an unnecessary link in the supply chain and crack down on cartel-like operations in the oil and gas sector.

State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Minister Rini Soemarno said in a press conference on Wednesday that the liquidation process of Petral and its subsidiaries was underway and expected to be fully completed by April next year.

'€œWe hope the process will be done by April 2016, with an audit investigation being thoroughly carried out and the results announced transparently,'€ she said.

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said told reporters the liquidation would affect Pertamina'€™s future performance positively and remove the stigma created by its shady business practices.

Pertamina president director Dwi Soetjipto said the measure would begin with a financial and legal due-diligence process and an audit, which would be conducted by an independent team.

'€œWe will also involve related government institutions, such as the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK),'€ he said.

Once Petral is liquidated, all of its assets '€” including those of its subsidiaries '€” would be absorbed by Pertamina, Rini said.

Dwi said the Petral Group'€™s total assets stood at around US$2 billion, most of which was in the form of payable accounts.

'€œPetral itself currently has $300 million in cash and cash equivalents and $13 million in ships owned by Zambesi,'€ he told reporters.

Petral has two subsidiaries: Pertamina Energy Services Pte. Ltd. (PES), which was incorporated in Singapore in 1992; and Zambesi Investment Limited (ZIL), which was established in Hong Kong in 1979.

The group previously functioned as a broker for Pertamina'€™s oil export and import activities.

As of January this year, Pertamina began conducting all its oil imports and exports through its integrated supply chain (ISC) division, which spurred greater efficiency.

 '€œWe saw that Petral'€™s roles were no longer significant in Pertamina'€™s business processes. Therefore, we decided to stop its activities today,'€ Dwi said on Wednesday, adding that the decision had been approved by the firm'€™s commissioners, the state-owned enterprises minister and the energy and mineral resources minister.

Dwi said the move would help the firm perform better amid continuing pressure from the drop in global oil prices.

'€œTo record a better performance this year, we are targeting to create an efficiency value worth $400 million in our ISC this year. We'€™ve achieved $22 million during the first two '€” to three-month period this year,'€ he said.

Pertamina'€™s net profit slumped by over 50 percent to $1.5 billion last year from $3.06 billion in 2013, according to the firm'€™s financial report.