Petronas to refine RI crude

Petronas to refine RI crude

SINGAPORE (Dow Jones): Malaysian state-owned oil and gas company Petroliam Nasional Bhd. (P.PET), or Petronas, will begin processing crude for Indonesia's Pertamina in early December, a source close said.

Petronas announced in October that it had signed a confirmation of intent with Pertamina, to process 20,000 barrels a day of sour crude through its Malacca II refinery for six months beginning in November.

However, a final agreement has not been signed, a Pertamina official said.

"We are still in discussion - it is not finalized yet," the official said.

According to the agreement, Petronas also has an option to provide sea transportation for the crude to the refinery, Petronas said in its statement.

The crude for the processing deal will be sourced from Iran, the source said.

The Pertamina official confirmed that crude for the deal would come from the Middle East, but declined to provide further details.