Pertamina gains $174.11m in added value from refinery projects

State owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina (Persero) said it gains US$174.11 million per month in added value from various refinery projects, including the operation of the Residual Fluid Catalytic Cracker (RFCC) at its Cilacap refinery in Central Java province and the TPPI refinery in Tuban, East Java province.

Both RFCC Cilacap and TPPI refinery contribute $131 million in added value per month. The added value comes from the reduction of Premium gasoline imports by 30-42 percent and diesel oil imports by 44 percent, Processing Director Ramad Hardadi said in the statement on Tuesday.

While in the past, Pertamina imported around 400,000 barrels of HOMC per month for its refineries, now the firm has stopped importing the fuel at all thanks to the operation of RFCC Cilacap and TPPI refinery. The firm has also stopped exporting LSWR and naptha. Instead, the firm process them into high quality products such as HOMC, diesel and propylene.

?Previously, we exported naphta at a low price of MOPC-$6 per barrel and at a volume of 400,000-500,000 barrels per month. After we stopped the exports and process it domestically, the price of naptha has risen to MOPS+$3.3 per barrel, which means we kind of gain $9.3 per barrel in added value from naptha alone,? he said.

In addition, thanks to centralization of procurement, Pertamina is able to save $10.8 million in costs per month. Besides, Pertamina has been able to export kerosene thanks to the successful program of kerosene-to-LPG conversion, which provides the firm with another $7.1 million in added value per month.

?We also produces Petralite, Peratamax Series and Dexlite gasolines which provide us with $3.13 million in added value per month,? he said.

Editing by Johannes Simbolon