Pertamina expands lube marketing overseas

PT Pertamina, Indonesia’s state-owned oil and gas company, said it aims to corner a 10% share of Australia’s 560,000 metric ton per annum lubricant market. Pertamina’s Marketing and Commercial Director Ahmad Faisal, who was in Sydney for the opening of its third official overseas outlet, said that the company had total sales of 5,000 kiloliters in Sydney last year. Pertamina’s two other outlets are located in Dubai, U.A.E., and Pakistan, where it launched Zipex, in cooperation with South Korea’s SK Corp. In Australia, Pertamina will market Fastron, Prima XP, and MEditran SX branded lube products. He was optimistic that Pertamina would be able to compete in the Australian market, despite the fact that three multinational oil companies–BP, Shell, and Castrol–have a combined market share of 75%. (October 24, 2009)