• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Indonesia Reshuffles State Oil Firm to Boost Competitiveness

Posted on: Thursday, 9 March 2006, 09:01 CST

Indonesia reshuffles state oil firm to boost competitiveness

JAKARTA, March 8 (Xinhua) -- The Indonesian government on Wednesday reshuffled the top management of the state oil firm PT Pertamina in a bid to boost the company's competitiveness.

Ari H Soemarno, former marketing and trading director of the company, was named President Director of the company, replacing Widya Purnama, State Minister of Enterprise Sugiharto announced here Wednesday.

The minister said without reform, Pertamina's competitiveness would continue to slide, as reflected in declining crude production.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has said recently that the firm, which has "run slow, half-baked and ineffective," needed an overhaul to boost its level of production and its contribution to the country.

Legislator Sutan Bhatoegana said that the new management was expected to make some breakthrough to promote progress in the company.

"Recently, all activities in Pertamina slow, now they all must be speeded up," he told reporters before the announcement.

Iin Arifin Takhyan, former director general of oil and gas at the Mines and Energy Ministry and Pertamina's former upstream director, was installed as vice president director.

The company produced about 67,000 barrel of oil per day in 2005. It aims to raise output to 149,000 bpd this year.

Pertamina has been locked in a battle since last year with U.S.- based Exxon Mobil Corp over who will operate the Cepu oilfield in East Java province, Indonesia's biggest oil discovery in years, which may boost the country's declining production by some 20 percent.

Source: Xinhua News Agency - CEIS

More News in this Category