Chevron Wants VAT Cut on Indonesian Crude Sales

Chevron has offered to sell 125,000 barrels per day of crude oil to Indonesia from two of its domestic oilfields on condition of an exemption from a 3 percent value added tax, the country's oil and gas regulator (SKKMigas) said on Tuesday.

The regulator will propose the tax break to the tax directorate at the finance ministry, SKKMigas chairman Amien Sunaryadi told reporters on Tuesday, among efforts to make it easier for Indonesia to optimise domestically produced crude for domestic refineries.

Indonesia's state-owned energy firm Pertamina plans to process more domestic crude oil in a bid to limit the impact on the country of declining production.

Chevron (CVX) is Indonesia's biggest crude producer and targets to produce 243,000 barrels per day in 2016, Sunaryadi said.

The company is expected to begin full production at its Indonesia Deepwater Development oil and gas project, including the Gendalo and Gehem fields, in 2023, three years behind an earlier target of 2020, the regulator said on Tuesday

Reporting by Wilda Asmarini