Pertamina offers LSWR

Pertamina offers LSWR

TOKYO (Reuter): Indonesia's state oil concern Pertamina has decided to allocate about 3.5 million barrels of February-lifting low sulfur waxy residue (LSWR) to its affiliates, traders said yesterday.

The February volume is about 600,000 to 700,000 barrels less than the January allocation of 4.1 to 4.2 million barrels.

Traders ascribed the tighter allocation for February to the scheduled resumption of Pertamina's 26,500 barrels-per-day hydrocracking unit at its Dumai refinery after a maintenance shutdown. The hydrocracker will resume full operations by early February, they said.

"Japanese utility demand for LSWR is expected to remain strong towards February due to the cold weather and some water shortages," one trader said.

"But the February (LSWR) market seems rather unclear as prices have lately been volatile," he said.