Indonesia’s state refiner Pertamina is continuing to export middle distillates as domestic demand remains weak. This is a rare move as Indonesia had been a regular net importer of oil products. In 2019, Pertamina imported 128.4 million barrels of oil products, including 816,600 barrels of gasoil and 1.78 million barrels of jet fuel and aviation gasoil.
However, tanker tracking data showed that a carrier had been chartered to load 35,000 tons (261,100 barrels) of gasoil from Pertamina’s Refinery Unit V Balikpapan on September 5, with discharge options in Chittagong, Bangladesh. Traders said the exported gasoil likely has a maximum sulfur content of 50 ppm, a density of 815-860 kg/m3, and a minimum flash point of 55 degrees Celsius.
Market participants also said that Pertamina recently sold a 35,000 tons (275,700 barrels) of jet fuel cargo to Vitol for loading from Cilacap in early-September. The price for the jet fuel cargo was unconfirmed but said to be around the average of Singapore spot jet fuel assessments. Pertamina has been exporting 35,000 tons of jet fuel every month since April. It has not imported any barrels of the fuel this year as reduced flights failed to absorb Pertamina’s jet fuel output of 1.0-1.1 million barrels/month.
The exports also came although Pertamina lowered its refinery operating rates to 50%-55% in June. In October 2019, Pertamina activated its trading arm, namely Pertamina International Marketing and Distribution, to sell its own and third-party oil products in the overseas market.
