Pertamina hopes to form JV with Saudi Aramco end this year

Petromindo

State-owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina hopes to be able to form a joint venture company with Saudi Aramco by the end of this year to develop the estimated US$5 billion Cilacap refinery upgrade project in Central Java.

This was said by Pertamina President Director Dwi Soetjipto on Saturday. ?We hope to sign the (JV) agreement end of December,? he said.

Dwi said that once the JV has been signed, it will be followed with feasibility study that is expected to be completed in February of next year, and then followed with basic engineering design so that groundbreaking can be implemented at the end of 2017. The project is targeted to be completed by the end of 2021 or early 2022.

Dwi said that Pertamina will have a majority stake of 55-60 percent stake in the JV, with the remainder to be held by Saudi Aramco.

The upgrading project will make the Cilacap refinery the largest in the country with improved economic parameters. Its Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) capacity will be increased from 345,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 370,000 bpd, while its complexities will increase from three to nine with production result increasing from 73 percent to 96 percent.

Dwi said previously that Saudi Aramco will provide about 70 percent of the crude requirement, or 260,000-270,000 bpd. (*)