Jambi ready to start construction of oil refinery plant
Thursday, March 1 2001 - 05:00 AM WIB
Several foreign investors including Mayhill International, a consortium of Kuwaiti and American oil companies have agreed to participate in the construction of a oil refinery plant to be built in Jambi, the province's governor Zulkifli Nurdin has said.
The governor said in Jambi on Wednesday that several other foreign investors had also expressed their interest to join in the project but they still doubted the security situation in the province.
"I have invited them to come and see themselves the province's situation," he said after the signing of a cooperation agreement between Petronas's Sikap Group and South West Petroleum Company of China.
The two companies agreed to jointly develop oil facilities in the province, which could later be used to support the operation of the planned refinery.
According to the governor a number of preparations for the construction of the oil refinery had been started, including the establishment of an integrated team consisting of officials from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Pertamina and the local officials.
He said that the team would carry out the feasibility study and determine the appropriate location of the refinery plant.
Zulkifli said that the refinery plant, which would require investment of at least Rp 8 trillion, would have production capacity of between 100,000 to 125,000 barrels per day.
He said that about 30,000 barrels of the crude oil for the refinery plant would be supplied by local producers and the other 70,000 would be imported from the Middle East. (*)