Pertamina continues to suffer net losses

JAKARTA. State oil and gas company PT Pertamina suffered a net loss of US$212.3 million in the January to February period as income from its downstream businesses declined to only US$ 368 million, a spokesperson said.

"Our income from upstream businesses also decreased because the price of the world's crude oil dropped from US$105.9 to US$49.8 per barrel this year," Vice President of PT Pertamina's (Persero) Corporate Communications Wianda Pusponegoro stated here on Thursday.

So Pertamina suffered the loss because the profit earned from its upstream businesses could not make up for the losses its downstream businesses incurred, she noted in response to a news report published by Antara recently.

President Director of Pertamina Dwi Soetjipto confirmed the company's net losses during a hearing with the House of Representatives on April 7.

"In the first two months of 2015, Pertamina suffered a loss of US$212.3 million, particularly due to losses incurred by its downstream businesses, which amounted to US$368 million," he told the lawmakers during the recent hearing.

The loss was inevitable, even though the company had set a profit target of US$280 million for the January to February period in its business plan, he remarked.