TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsPertamina 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.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Online motorcycle taxi drivers refuel at the Cikini gas station in Jakarta on April 14. (JP/Seto Wardhana )
S
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.
