REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Corporate Communication vice president of PT Pertamina Ali Mundakir said oil fuel (BBM) imports through Pertamina Energy Trading Ltd (Petral) is only a business strategy.

Petral is a subsidiary of Pertamina based in Singapore to handle imports of crude oil and oil fuels (BBM) for the state oil and gas company.

"All oil companies in the world have trading arms. This is only a general business practice, natural in business," Ali said here on Tuesday.

He said since 2012, Pertamina has bought oil and oil fuel products directly from producers abroad.

"Starting 2012 Pertamina has stopped buying oil from traders. We now buy oil directly from oil companies, and this is a form of seriousness of Pertamina to improve good governance," he said.

Ali was denying allegation that Petral extended the process of imports of BBM resulting in an increase in BBM prices.

"Petral is owned by Pertamina, the profit gained by Petral is also a profit of Pertamina, and a profit of Pertamina is also a profit of the state," he pointed out.

Petral has been accused of being an instrument of Mafia operations in the oil and gas sector, and observers have called for its dissolution.

Ali said Pertamina will continue to work normally and will comply with whatever decision made by the new government of president elect Joko Widodo on Petral.

"I will not react to that (call for Petral dissolution). We just wait for the policy adopted by the new government. So far, all this is merely a discourse," he said.

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