Malaysian Times: Petronas gets Indon oil retailing licence

INDONESIA has given Malaysian state oil and gas firm Petronas a licence to sell oil products in the country and is still processing a permit for BP plc, a mines and energy official said on Tuesday.

'We issued a licence in principle to Petronas last week. Petronas will sell high octane gasoline in Indonesia, such as ron 92, ron 95 and ron 97,' Erie Soedarmo, director of processing at the mines and energy ministry, said.

'We are still processing the BP licence for selling oil products in Indonesia. We expect to issue it next month.'

In February, Indonesia gave licences to Royal Dutch/Shell Group and five other operators, paving the way for private firms to import directly in future.

Mr Soedarmo said there were still many companies interested in getting involved in oil product retailing. However, he gave no details.

'We have given in-principle approval to allow companies who have the licence to prepare their operations. If they spend money to invest in land, offices and other equipment then the government will issue a licence for them for at least 20 years,' he said.

The licences were awarded following a 2001 oil and gas law in which Jakarta pledged to open up the retail sector to foreign and local private operators. - Reuters

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