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Pertamina boosts oil imports amid fall in global prices, decline in local production
Pertamina plans to import up to 10 million barrels of crude oil and 9.3 million barrels of gasoline this year.
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Online motorcycle taxi drivers refuel at the Cikini gas station in Jakarta on April 14. (JP/Seto Wardhana )
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tate-owned oil and gas company Pertamina will increase its oil imports to take advantage of the fall in oil prices in the global market as part of the company’s strategy in securing the domestic fuel supply amid a projected drop in local oil production.
Pertamina president director Nicke Widyawati said the oil giant planned to gradually import up to 10 million barrels of crude oil and 9.3 million barrels of gasoline this year, mostly from the Middle East and Africa.
“We are not just planning to meet demand for this year,” said Nicke at a House of Representative (DPR) hearing on Tuesday (21/4). “We see an opportunity, while prices are low, to build up stocks,” Nicke said in the meeting, which was conducted by video call.
Pertamina earlier said it had revised down its oil and gas production target by 3 percent to 894,000 barrels of oil per day (mbopd) this year, backtracking from a commitment to raise output. The company also plans to cut back its monthly crude oil refining by 43 percent starting in May “over the course of COVID-19”.
Pertamina’s strategy for the pandemic reflects a 180-degree turn from Indonesia’s pursuit of increasing domestic oil production and curbing imports. The country’s aim was to turn around a gaping trade deficit that began in 2008. The company had initially committed up to $5.2 billion to develop refineries and upstream operations this year to alleviate the deficit.
