Balikpapan RDMP inauguration delayed
Wednesday, December 17 2025 - 08:18 AM WIB
The inauguration of the Balikpapan Refinery Development Master Plan (RDMP) project in East Kalimantan has been postponed from its previously scheduled date of Dec. 17, 2025, pending final system checks and schedule alignment with President Prabowo Subianto, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources top officials said.
Deputy Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Yuliot Tanjung said the delay was due to ongoing inspections and synchronization of the refinery’s overall operating systems to ensure safe and stable operations.
“There are still checks and synchronization processes underway across the RDMP operating system to ensure everything runs properly and to minimize risks,” Yuliot said on Tuesday (Dec. 16), as quoted by Kontan.co.id. He added that a new inauguration date has not yet been set and will depend on the completion of the checks being carried out by PT Kilang Pertamina Internasional (KPI).
Separately, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia said the refinery is technically ready for full operation, stressing that the remaining issue relates to scheduling the inauguration ceremony with the president.
“Principally, everything at the Balikpapan RDMP is ready. We just need to align it with the president’s schedule,” Bahlil said after a meeting at the State Palace in Jakarta on Tuesday. “There are no other obstacles.”
Read also: Balikpapan RDMP to be inaugurated soon, ending Indonesia’s diesel imports
Bahlil said the schedule alignment is expected to be resolved soon, allowing the upgraded refinery to begin operations in the coming months.
As previously reported by Petromindo.com, the Balikpapan RDMP is a strategic project expected to significantly boost Indonesia’s fuel production capacity and help eliminate diesel imports starting in 2026. The project will raise the refinery’s crude processing capacity from 260,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 360,000 bpd and enable the production of Euro V–compliant gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and LPG.
The Balikpapan RDMP project in East Kalimantan is owned and operated by PT Kilang Pertamina Balikpapan, a subsidiary of state-owned energy company PT Pertamina (Persero).
With the start-up of the upgraded refinery, Indonesia is expected to stop importing diesel beginning in 2026, and even record a surplus, Bahli said previously.
“Our total diesel demand is around 32–33 million tonnes per year. Domestic diesel production is currently 15–16 million tonnes annually, and the rest is met using FAME or B40 (biodiesel program). CPO is mixed with methanol to produce FAME, which is then blended with diesel. We have successfully implemented the B10 to B40 programs. God willing, on 17 December we will inaugurate the Balikpapan RDMP, which will add 100,000 barrels of production capacity. With this additional output, combined with the B50 program starting in 2026, we will have a diesel surplus of 4 million tonnes,” Bahlil said at an economic conference on Monday (8 December).
“Since we will have a diesel surplus, we will push to increase jet fuel production. This means the only fuel we will still need to import is gasoline,” he added.
As of June 2025, Indonesia still imported 10.58% of its diesel needs and 61.73% of its gasoline requirements.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak