Indonesia needs 3 million barrels of diesel next month
Indonesia needs 3 million barrels of diesel next month
SINGAPORE (Reuter): Indonesia's diesel import requirements for December are estimated at three million barrels and kerosene requirements at around 1.8 million barrels, a source with state- owned oil firm Pertamina said yesterday.
He said Pertamina is still waiting for the December purchase program from its affiliates and could not comment on the volumes that have already been purchased. But he said Indonesia still needed to buy a few more cargoes.
While most of the diesel would be sourced from the Middle East on a cost-and-freight basis, some volumes would be obtained from Singapore, he said.
Indonesia bought 2.2 million barrels of diesel for November delivery.
The source said the higher import allocated for December is to meet Indonesia's stock requirements and to prepare itself for unforeseen incidents like the Cilacap refinery fire last month which razed seven of 156 oil products storage tanks.
The source also said Indonesia was scheduled to take delivery in November of a 168,000-ton diesel cargo in the very large crude carrier (VLCC) New Brooklyn owned by Thai oil trader International Oil Tanking.
But the VLCC encountered boiler problems off Oman on November 6 and was later towed to the United Arab Emirates, and Indonesia had to cancel the deal.
Instead, Indonesia took delivery of another large cargo from the tanker Salina. The source could not say who the owner of the alternative cargo was.
However, Indonesia might still take the New Brooklyn cargo in December if the boiler could be repaired on time, he said.
The source said, Indonesia bought most of its kerosene cargoes for December from Singapore on a free-on-board (FOB) basis.
Traders here said the price was around U.S. 45 cents a barrel over Singapore spot quotes fob basis. Indonesia might still have to buy some more volumes for December to meet its import allocation.
Pertamina bought 2.4 million barrels of kerosene in November, about 1.6 million barrels more than its normal monthly imports as a result of shortages following the Cilacap fire.