Pertamina: Brokers in Paradise

This is not the first and only time Pertamina has been swindled in the crude oil import business. In the past, companies formed out of KKN practices have bled it dry.

February 12, 2002

One day in 1995, Minister of Oil & Energy, Ida Bagus Sudjana, had an audience with President Suharto. He reported his success in cutting the fees or commissions Pertamina had to pay for importing crude oil.

Pertamina was successful in reducing the fees of two companies brokering the crude oil imports—Perta Oil Marketing Ltd. and Permindo Oil Trading Co. Ltd—30 US cents a barrel to merely 5-10 cents. The state-owned company sav

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