Indonesia's state oil and gas company Pertamina is seeking a loan of between $500 million and $700 million from a syndicate of domestic banks to finance oil product imports.

Pertamina, Asia's biggest gasoline and diesel buyer, was caught in a cash squeeze earlier this year as the government was slow to transfer the subsidies it needs to continue importing costly fuel and sell it at low, state-set domestic prices.
“We need bridging financing. We are seeking a loan between $500 to $700 million from a domestic syndicate of banks,” Widya Purnama, Pertamina’s president director, said.
“We need money to increase our oil products stock from the current 17.5 days to 20 days,” he added. The Pertamina official said the company had gasoline stocks of 12.7 days, diesel oil stocks of 14.5 days and kerosene stocks of 25.3 days.