Pertamina hopes TPPI refinery to resume production next month

State-owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina, which has been assigned by the government to takeover the management of PT Trans Pacific Petrochemical Indotama (TPPI), said it is preparing to start-up the TPPI fuel refinery later this month, in the hope that it would resume production in October to help meet domestic fuel demand.

Pertamina Vice President for Corporate Communications, Wianda Pusponegoro said in a statement Sunday that the TPPI refinery, located in Tuban, East Java, would be directed to produce gasoline fuel. She said that this was a decision made following recent visit by State Minister of State-Owned Enterprises Rini Soemarno and Pertamina top officials.

Wianda said that after long suspension, the TPPI refinery will resume production at an initial output level of 20,000 bpd, which will later be increased to 50,000-55,000 bpd.

She added that for feedstock, Pertamina hopes the support of the government in the form of allocating part of the government?s share of the country?s condensate output for the TPPI refinery.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak