Oil Updates from Indonesia

Oil Updates from Indonesia










- Platts: Pertamina Seeks First 2009 Spot Gasoil Import On Cilacap Outage

- Indonesia's Pertamina Seeks Extra Diesel Imports

- Pertamina: Seek 600,000 Bbl Extra Gasoil Imports For June

- Indonesia Min:Pertamina May Produce 172,000 B/D In 09-Antara

- Asia Crude-BPMIGAS sells July-Sept Belanak to Kernel
(Courtesy Joyo News Service)


Platts Commodity News
Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Pertamina seeks first 2009 spot gasoil import on Cilacap outage

Singapore -- Indonesia's state-owned oil and gas company
Pertamina is seeking its first gasoil import for 2009 following
an outage at its Cilacap refinery last week which has halted
gasoil production, trading sources close to the company said
late Tuesday.

"We have to import extra barrels of gasoil this month because of
the Cilacap shutdown, and we also want to increase our gasoil
stockpiles from 20 days currently," Pertamina's trading and
marketing official Achmad Faisal said, adding that the company
has no plans to import gasoline for June.

Pertamina had originally planned to import 6.2 million barrels
of gasoline and 2.4 million barrels of gasoil in June, Faisal
said.

The company's plan to import gasoil marks a sharp turn from the
beginning of the year, when it was inundated with rapidly
mounting gasoil stocks arriving from term shipments and
increased domestic production amid falling local demand.

A source close to the company confirmed that Pertamina would be
seeking spot cargoes through its trading arm Petral.

"No tender was issued for these spot cargoes," the source said,
adding that two cargoes, each 600,000 barrels, was being sought
for June 13-15 and end June delivery.

It is understood that Pertamina is still waiting for other
offers to trickle through as it has received just one offer for
a parcel of 300,000 barrels for the end-June requirement.

Petral could not be reached for comment.

It could not be confirmed if Pertamina was looking to import
spot gasoil beyond June deliveries, for the next few months, but
trading sources said that was unlikely given that these spot
purchases were driven by the outage at the Cilacap refinery in
Central Java.

Pertamina in early June had shut down its 230,000 b/d crude
distillation unit after a tube broke at one of its crude units,
causing a fire. The unit was only expected to be down for one to
two days but repairs took longer than expected. A senior
official said the unit was restarted Tuesday but has been
running at a low rate, and is expected to be fully operational
by the end of this week.

The plant's second CDU with a capacity of 118,000 b/d is running
normally, a company source said last week.

The resumption of spot imports indicates that Pertamina's gasoil
inventory has slipped from lofty levels seen earlier this year.
At its height, the company racked up a gasoil stockpile of 35
days, up from its normal reserve level of 25 days.

Diminished local demand, increased production of gasoil from
domestic refineries as well as excess term imports forced the
refiner to take drastic measures to trim overflowing storage
levels, some of which included canceling gasoil cargoes from
term suppliers for the second quarter, as well as implementing a
ban on local companies seeking to import gasoil into the country.

In the past, Pertamina frequently purchased gasoil cargoes from
the spot market and in 2008, the company issued regular spot
tenders from July through to September seeking around
200,000-800,000 barrels of 0.35% sulfur gasoil each month.

Clarice Chiam, clarice_ch...@platts.com

Anita Nugraha, newsd...@platts.com

------------------------------

Indonesia's Pertamina Seeks Extra Diesel Imports

JAKARTA, June 10 (Reuters) - Indonesia's Pertamina is seeking an
extra 600,000 barrels of diesel in June, following an outage at
its Cilacap refinery unit last week and to boost diesel stocks
currently at 20 days, a company director said on Wednesday.

State oil and gas firm Pertamina shut down its crude
distillation unit (CDU) at Cilacap refinery in Central Java due
to a fire last week.

On Tuesday Pertamina restarted the affected unit, which has a
capacity of 230,000 barrels per day.

"We need to import an extra 600,000 barrels diesel because of
the shutdown at Cilacap refinery on top of our initial import
plan for June," Achmad Faisal, Pertamina's marketing director
told reporters.

Cilacap refinery, Indonesia's biggest, has two CDUs. The other
unit has a capacity of 118,000 bpd.

The company said in May it would import 2.4 million barrels of
diesel oil in June.

"We also want to increase diesel stocks, which are currently at
20 days," Faisal said.

Diesel stocks had been steady since before the shutdown on June
3.

"We have no problem with gasoline as we have enough stocks for
20 days," Faisal said.

Traders in Singapore welcomed fresh Indonesian requirements amid
tepid Asian demand.

"Every little bit helps. I would think Pertamina needs to buy
(diesel) with the Cilacap problems. The election is going on,"
said a trader in the city-state.

Singapore gas oil timespread was last pegged at 10 cents a
barrel in backwardation.

Indonesia is Asia's biggest importer of diesel and gasoline.

Pertamina's nine refineries have a combined capacity of around 1
million bpd. But it only supplies 70 percent of domestic oil
product consumption and 30 percent comes from imports.
(Reporting by Muklis Ali and Felicia Loo, writing by Fitri
Wulandari, editing by Ben Tan)

----------------------------

Pertamina: Seek 600,000 Bbl Extra Gasoil Imports For June

JAKARTA, June 10 (Dow Jones)--Indonesian state oil company PT
Pertamina is seeking 600,000 barrels of extra gasoil imports
this month to increase its stocks from the current level of 20
days' usage equivalent, the company's marketing director told
reporters Wednesday.

However, Achmad Faisal didn't specify the total amount of gasoil
Pertamina will import this month.

Local media reported earlier this week, prior to the Pertamina's
announcement it will seek extra gasoil, that the company
previously planned to import 2.2 million barrels of the fuel.

Faisal also said Pertamina's gasoline stock levels are "no
problem," but didn't elaborate.

--------------------------

Indonesia Min:Pertamina May Produce 172,000 B/D In 09-Antara

JAKARTA, June 10 (Dow Jones)--Indonesian state oil company PT
Pertamina may produce 171,900 barrels a day of crude this year,
up from 150,000 barrels/day last year, state news service Antara
reported Wednesday, citing Indonesia's oil minister.

The report cited Yusgiantoro Purnomo, Minister for Energy and
Mineral Resources, as saying Pertamina will optimize production
at its Sukowati, Tambun, Limau and Polent oil fields to achieve
the increase in output.

News service web site: http://www.antaranews.com

---------------------------

Asia Crude-BPMIGAS sells July-Sept Belanak to Kernel

SINGAPORE, June 10 (Reuters) - Indonesian state oil regulator
BPMIGAS has awarded a semi-term tender to sell 300,000 barrels a
month of Belanak crude for loading between July and September to
Singapore-based trader Kernel, traders said on Wednesday.

BPMIGAS sold the light sweet crude at a premium of around $3.50
a barrel to the grade's Indonesia Crude Price (ICP), they said.

BPMIGAS last awarded a semi-term tender to sell 900,000 barrels
a month of Belanak for loading between February and April to
PetroTitan, the Singapore-based trading arm of Hong Kong-listed
Titan Petrochemicals.

In spot tender, BPMIGAS last sold 600,000 barrels of Belanak for
February loading at a premium between 10 and 20 cents to its
ICP, together with 300,000 barrels of heavy sweet Duri, to U.S.
oil major Chevron. (Reporting by Judy Hua; Editing by Ramthan
Hussain)