Jakarta (ANTARA) - State-owned oil and gas company PT Pertamina will use the 2nd Indonesia-Africa Forum (IAF) as a platform to explore opportunities for cooperation with African countries to secure the country's energy supply. "We are very open to opportunities to cooperate with countries in Africa. The interests of African countries for Pertamina are in our efforts to secure energy sources for Indonesia," the marketing and operations director of PT Patra Jasa, Litta Indriya Ariesca, said at a press conference on Thursday.

According to her, Pertamina has been expanding its business in Africa since 2013. In the upstream and gas sectors, Pertamina already has a footprint in Algeria, Gabon, Nigeria, Angola, Namibia, and Tanzania.

Its total production has reached around 78.2 million barrels of oil per day (MBOEPD) or 34.1 million barrels of oil per day and around 255.4 million cubic feet (MMcf) of gas per day.

Crude oil from Africa, she informed, is suitable for Pertamina's refineries.

"In this IAF, we will showcase several products or services that can be developed in African countries. And, of course, we are still expanding, especially for upstream, in terms of where to develop national energy," she informed.

At the forum, Pertamina will introduce a number of subsidiaries, such as Pertamina Internasional EP, Pertamina International Shipping, and Pertamina Geothermal Energy, which can support the development of geothermal energy in Africa, especially Kenya.

Ariesca further said that Africa will have huge potential in 2063 considering the Africa Development Agenda. Thus, Pertamina is keen to work with African countries to explore potential opportunities.

The president director and CEO of PT ESSA Industries Indonesia, Kanishk Laroya, said that his company, which is engaged in the energy and chemical sector through an LPG refinery and ammonia plant, sees potential in the fertilizer sector in Tanzania.

After a visit to Tanzania in August 2013, he realized that Tanzania has a lot of opportunities that can be developed further. However, according to him, more study is needed to build business in Tanzania.

"What we saw in Tanzania was very welcoming. In fact, Indonesia and Tanzania have a very special history where the president of Tanzania and (Indonesia's founding father) Bung Karno were very close back then, and Tanzania also feels that our Indonesian culture is very similar to their culture," Laroya said.

Therefore, Laroya expressed the hope that the IAF can be a momentum for companies from Indonesia and several countries in Africa to enter each other's markets more easily with a more concrete business and legal foundation.

IAF will be held in Bali from September 1–3, 2024. It is expected to draw 28 heads of state and around 800 participants representing governments, international and regional organizations, as well as entrepreneurs from Indonesia and Africa.

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Translator: Kuntum Khaira Riswan, Yashinta Difa
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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