JAKARTA: Indonesian state energy company PT Pertamina has signed deals to purchase crude oil produced from domestic fields by Chevron Corp, PetroChina and others, a company source familiar with the matter said.
Purchases will start this month, including from other contractors such as Petrogas and Saka Energi Indonesia, the person said on Friday, without disclosing the volume agreed. The person declined to be identified because of the private nature of the transactions.
The deals follow a government regulation introduced last September requiring contractors to offer their production to Pertamina, and obliging the state company to prioritise crude purchase from Indonesian fields. Jakarta is seeking to slash its energy import bill as it grapples with a decline in the Indonesia’s currency, the rupiah.
The biggest oil-producing nation in Southeast Asia currently supplies around 775,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil, of which 550,000 bpd already goes to Pertamina, including its own oil output.
A Pertamina spokesperson was not immediately available for comment. — Reuters
Chevron Pacific Indonesia, a local unit of Chevron, “has reached agreement with Pertamina for the sale of crude oil,” spokesman Cam Van Ast told Reuters without disclosing further details.
Indonesia’s deputy energy minister Arcandra Tahar has previously said oil contractors export around 217,000 barrel per day (bpd) of their share of the country’s output which could potentially be diverted to Pertamina. Reuters
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