Pertamina’s spokesman Basuki Trikora Putra said the company had obtained the government permit for the export.

"We have obtained the export permit from the energy and mineral resources department. Now, we are still processing another administrative permit from the trade ministry. We plan to begin the export in early June," Trikora told reporters Friday (May 22).

Trikora said Pertamina would export between 200,000 and 300,000 barrels of Avtur per month to a company in Singapore, but he refused to name the company.

"Pertamina will sell the Avtur through our subsidiary PETRAL (Pertamina Energy Trading Ltd)," Trikora said.

Trikora said Pertamina would sell the Avtur at the international market price. Currently, the international market price for Avtur is about US$65 per barrel.

Made from the petroleum fraction, Avtur is designed for planes with jet turbine engines and is a form of kerosene.

The company produces Avtur from its refineries in Dumai (Riau Province); Plaju (Palembang); Cilacap (Central Java); and Balikpapan (East Kalimantan).

Trikora said Pertamina produces about 1.6 million barrels of Avtur per month, while the domestic demand for the fuel is only about 1.3 million barrels.

"There is a production excess which made us decide to export the Avtur. But, we will continue to monitor the domestic demand," Trikora said.

Pertamina can produce more Avtur because the company now is able to switch its refineries from producing domestic kerosene to Avtur.

Kerosene demand has declined significantly partly because of the government’s kerosene-to-liquified petroleum gas (LPG) conversion programme.

The government launched the conversion program in 2006 in a bid to reduce the cost of fuel subsidies on the state budget.

Pertamina this year targeted to  remove from the domestic cooking market as much as 5.37 million kiloliters of kerosene.

By April, the company says it already carried out enough conversions to save  3.74 million kiloliters of kerosene.

Trikora said that, with the conversion program, Pertamina could export more Avtur in future. Avtur has much higher economic value than domestic kerosene, he added.

Directorate general for oil and gas Evita H. Legowo said earlier that the Avtur export permit for Pertamina was a temporary permit.