Pertamina hopes to get partner next year for Bontang refinery project

State-owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina hopes the process to select a partner in the planned development of Bontang refinery project in East Kalimantan to be completed by the end of next year as the company seeks to accelerate the project.

Pertamina Director for Processing and Petrochemical Megaproject, Rachmad Hardadi said in a statement on Monday the company is waiting for the government to appoint a consultant that would help the company in the process of selecting its partner.

He said that Pertamina is also aiming to complete the bankable feasibility study (BFS) for the estimated US$14 billion project next year.

?If the BFS is completed, we will submit it to the government. If everything goes smoothly, and incentives can be decided sooner, our hope is that land preparation can start in early 2018, so that physical construction of the Bontang new grass root refinery can start on time at the end of 2019 and be completed in the middle of 2023,? Rachmad explained.

As has been previously reported Russia's Rosneft and Saudi Aramco are among of the potential investors in the refinery project, which will have capacity of 300,000 bpd.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak