Indonesian state-owned oil and gas company PT. Pertamina will use rupiah in payment of crude oil purchase instead of U.S. dollars, and buy the commodity more from foreign and domestic contractors in the country, a move aims to edge off import, a senior official said here.
The move came as rupiah has slid 12.1 percent against the U.S. dollar this year by far, fetching 15,210 on Thursday, the central bank data showed.
Director for Retail of PT Pertamina Mas'ud Khamid said that so far the transaction in the crude oil purchase has been carried out in U.S. dollars, which has largely factored to rising demand of the currency.
"We are seeking a scheme of payment with rupiah," he said at the parliament building.
PT Pertamina would buy all the crude oil set aside from oil fields in the country and under the production sharing scheme for the contractors, said Khamid.
"(Accordingly) We will drift down import by purchasing all the oil outputs in domestic," the official said.
For that, Khamid said, currently PT Pertamina is carrying out negotiation with contractors.
By far, the company has reached an agreement with a Malaysian oil firm PT Petronas, both sides agreed to use rupiah in each transaction of the crude oil purchase, he cited.
"We will try to apply such payment with other companies," Khamid added.
Indonesia is a net oil importer as aging well and low recoveries of new reserve in recent years have dwindled production significantly.
The Indonesian government has scrambled to unveil some policies to pare down downshift risks of global uncertainty against rupiah.
Among the policies are applying higher import tariffs on over 1,000 items to edge off imports, unveiling a policy on a mandatory usage of bio-diesel fuel, putting off infrastructure projects along with a long cycle of tightening policies imposed by the central bank.
Editor:Cherie
