Indonesia’s state-owned energy giant Pertamina has said it has convinced Saudi Arabian oil giant Saudi Aramco and Russia’s Rosneft to conduct joint marketing efforts, which will ease its financial burden.

Last December, Pertamina signed a joint-venture agreement with Saudi Aramco on upgrading the Cilacap refinery in East Java with a total investment of US$5.8 billion (Bt193 billion).

Pertamina will team up with Rosneft to develop the $15-billion Tuban refinery, also in East Java.

Pertamina, which owns 55 per cent of both projects, was the sole off-taker of output by the Cilacap and Tuban refineries.

This resulted in all debts from these projects being Pertamina’s alone, resulting in an increase in its debt burden.

“So, we are renegotiating the Cilacap and Tuban projects, with negotiations reaching 95 per cent completion.

“We’re currently just waiting for the legal process before going to the next phase,” Pertamina finance director Arief Budiman said on Wednesday.

Pertamina said both Saudi Aramco and Rosneft had agreed to give financial support for the basic engineering design and front-end engineering design of the two refinery projects.

The basic studies and FEED for the Tuban project alone will cost $270 million. – The Jakarta Post

Fullerton Health acquiring Healthscope’s medical centres

Singapore’s Fullerton Healthcare Corp said yesterday that it has acquired the medical centre operations of Healthscope, comprising 43 medical centres, four specialist skin clinics and one specialist breast diagnostic clinic across Australia.

The network has more than 350 doctors, providing care to 1.8 million patients each year.

Dr Michael Tan, co-founder and chief executive of Fullerton Health, said this is an important acquisition that reinforces the company’s strategy of developing a strong presence in markets across the region, and specifically to broaden its network in Australia.

“Through this acquisition, we will become the third-largest primary care business in the country, and will be well positioned to support even more doctors and clinics,” he said.

Founded in Singapore in 2011, Fullerton Health owns more than 225 medical centres across seven countries, with a network of more than 8,000 medical providers around the world. – The Straits Times

BNM objects to SGX’s ringgit futures meant for Malaysia

Bank Negara Malaysia’s recent statement objecting to the Singapore Stock Exchange’s move to introduce the trading of ringgit futures was meant for Malaysians.

BNM Governor Muhammad Ibrahim had cautioned Malaysians that offshore trading of the ringgit was not allowed.

“We’ll certainly take action,” he said.

Foreign banks licensed in Malaysia that helped Malaysians facilitate such transactions would also be taken to task.

“It’s important to note that this is not a new policy or regulation,” he said.

“Contravention of the FEA (foreign exchange administration rules) is an offence under the Financial Services Act of 2013 and Islamic Financial Services Act of 2013,” the central bank said in a statement . – The Star

‘Hot money’ inflow hits six-month high in July

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has reported a net “hot money” inflow of US$206.47 million (Bt6.86 billion) in July, the highest in six months, partly on the back of investors’ positive reaction to the president’s report on his first year in office.

BSP data showed that the $1.43-billion inflow of foreign portfolio investment exceeded the $1.23-billion outflow, resulting in a net inflow for the second straight month.

The net inflow last month was the biggest since January’s $301.33 million, but was dwarfed by the $1.07-billion net inflow in the same month last year.

The July inflow was also lower by 36.8 per cent year-on-year and 28.9 per cent month-on-month.

Hot money outflow rose 2.1 per cent on year but declined 36.8 per cent on month.

The central bank attributed the higher inflows of foreign portfolio investment last month to “positive investor sentiment on news of inflation declining to 2.8 per cent in June from 3.1 per cent in May, strong net foreign buying, investor reaction to President (Rodrigo) Duterte’s second state of the nation address and the US Federal Reserve’s decision to maintain interest rates”. – Philippine Daily Inquirer