Larsen & Toubro eyes Bojonegara refinery project

Larsen & Toubro Ltd, an Indian manufacturing and engineering company, has expressed its interest to join a US$8 billion refinery project which will be built in Bojonegara, Banten, Bisnis Indonesia daily reported.

The Indian company could take up to 30 percent stake in the project which will initially be built by a consortium of state oil and gas company Pertamina, National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC) and Petrofield of Malaysia.

Rudy Radjab, the president director PT Banten Global Development, which is owned by the provincial administration of Banten, said the project which will have a capacity of 2 x 150,000 barrels per day, has been delayed for many years due to many factors including uncertainties of gas supply and the land for the plant site.

The involvement of the Iranian company has also impeded the project because there is a risk of being affected if there is a political sanction imposed by the United States on Iran. Rudy said that the local government had expressed its strong support to the project but Pertamina as the leader of the consortium was still reluctant to resume the project due to such uncertainties.

?We suggest Pertamina to act only as off taker in the project,? he said, adding that the Banten Global would be ready to acquire Pertamina?s shares and assume all the risks to ensure the project could be continued. (*)