Balongan refinery plant to stop operation for two months

Pertamina's Balongan refinery plant in Indramayu, West Java will stop operation for two months beginning on Monday Aug. 18 to undergo a regular repair, Kompas reported on Saturday.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Pertamina's President Baihaki Hakim said that the company would buy crude oil and process it into fuel in Singapore to offset the decline in the local fuel production during the overhaul of the refinery plant.

Balongan refinery, which produces fuel of between 100,000 barrels and 125,000 barrels per day or around 10 percent of the country's fuel demand, is one of Pertamina's several refinery plants which include Pangkalan Brandan, Dumai, Sungai Pakning, Musi, Cilacap, Balikpapan, Cepu and Kasim refinery plants.

Pertamina still imports 20 percent of the total domestic demand because the total domestic production from the existing plants are only able to meet the need of about 80 percent of the demand.

Besides importing fuel, Indonesia is also import about 250,000 barrels of crude per day for the local refinery plants which still require specific types of crude oil.(*)