Pertamina, Petronas consider oil project partnership

May 30, 2000
Indonesian state oil, gas, and mining company Pertamina is planning to offer Malaysian state firm Petronas entry into an $800 million oil product pipeline project on Java Island, if the Malaysian national oil company is willing to undertake the scheme jointly, according to local reports.


KUALA LUMPUR�Indonesian state oil, gas, and mining company Pertamina is planning to offer Petronas entry into an $800 million oil product pipeline project on Java Island, if the Malaysian national oil company is willing to undertake the scheme jointly, according to local reports.

Pertamina Pres. and Director Baihaki Hakim said here Monday that his company would also offer Petronas oil production projects in the offshore areas of the Makassar Straits. Quoted by the Malaysian news agency Bernama, he said equity sharing is subject to negotiations.

Pertamina is looking for partners from the region because the company believes in giving opportunities to regional concerns, he said. "It will be a good return on investment. There are many projects to be tapped which are good for our regional partners," he told reporters after attending the opening session of the Asian Oil & Gas Conference in Kuala Lumpur.

Baihaki was responding to Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's statement that Petronas is willing to work with Pertamina in oil production in Indonesia, if Pertamina offered.

"We have been working with foreign oil companies from North America, Europe, and Japan, and because of this we thought, 'Why not give the opportunity to our neighbors,' said Baihaki. "Indonesia and Malaysia have a long friendship through regional cooperation and there is no reason why both oil companies could not work together in oil production."