Indonesian State-Owned Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan has said the government would not close down Petral, a subsidiary of the state`s oil and gas company Petral Pertamina Energy Trading, but only change its function.
"Petral will not be closed, but it no longer will be given the task of buying fuel oil for the government, because Pertamina will buy fuel directly through the manufacturer," said Dahlan Iskan here Tuesday.
Specifically, Pertamina will purchase fuel directly from refineries, and crude oil will be purchased from oil well owners.
Earlier, there was a rumor that Petral would be closed by the government following reports of alleged corruption among Pertamina and government officials.
"It must not be closed, but their task is to be transferred and it will not do any more trading for Pertamina," he said.
However, in order to keep Petral operating, Dahlan said that the company would still be allowed to buy or sell foreign oil, such as buying oil from Kuwait and then selling it to Thailand, or purchasing from Bahrain and then selling to the Philippines.
"So Petral is still an oil trading company, but it will operate with professional traders. It will have nothing to do anymore with Pertamina," said Dahlan.
Further, concerns about collusion with Petral would no longer occur in supplying oil to Pertamina, Dahlan added.
"If Pertamina made a direct purchase from refineries, Petral will not be involved," he said.
Yet Dahlan did not elaborate on when Pertamina would begin buying oil directly from producers or no longer use Petral as an intermediary.
"It`s now being prepared and the negotiations takes a long time. Just give it a little time; the most important thing is that Pertamina has begun purchasing oil directly from the oil refineries. Petral can do their business without having to be closed," he said.(*)
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