Pertamina inaugurates Gundih gas project
TPPI makes first shipment after two years of closure
Friday, December 13 2013 - 12:04 PM WIB
The projects were inaugurated in a ceremony at Pertamina?s headquarters in Jakarta.
Pertamina?s President Director Karen Agustiawan said the Gundih CPP will channel 50 mmscfd of gas from the Gundih block to PLTGU Tambak Lorok power plant in Semarang owned by state owned electricity firm PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN). The gas is sourced from Kedungtuban, Randublatung, and Kedunglusi structures in Blora.
The gas supply will enable the 1500 MW Tambak Lorok to resume operation after being closed down by PLN from early this year as part of efficiency measures. The power plant was considered a wasteful operation since it used expensive high speed diesel (HSD) for operation due to the absence of gas supply.
Karen said Tambak Lorok will save its fuel costs up to Rp 21.4 trillion as a result of using gas rather than HSD. Besides, the Gundih CPP project has brought an economic impact on the local people as Pertamina fielded 1700 workers for the project, mostly the local people.
According to Pertamina, the Gunding CPP is categorized as a ?green plant? since it uses gas in its operation so that it has a low emission.
?This is line with the Pertamina?s concern to continue paying attention at environmental aspect in all its operations,? the firm said in a statement.
Aside from Gundih, Tambak Lorok will also get gas supplies from the Kepodang field, also in Central Java, operated by Malaysian firm PETRONAS.
During the ceremony, Karen also inaugurated the ?maiden? shipment of paraxylene products from the TPPI petrochemical plant where Pertamina has a stake and took over the oeprational management since the middle of this year. The plant has been shut down for almost two years before resuming operation on Nov. 4, 2013 under the tolling agreement between Pertamina and TPPI.
?Following the resumption of TPPI operation, Indonesia will get additional supplies of petrochemical products as well as oil fuels and LPG for the domestic market and it will reduce our imports which reach US$ 5.5 billion in terms of value and account for 20-30 percent of the national total needs, Pertamina said in the statement.
?TPPI can produce at least 530,000 tons (per year) of petrochemical products, including paraxylene, benzene, orthoxylene and heavy aromatics, 1.5 million barrels (per year) of oil products such as gas oil/diesel oil and fuel oil, 36,000 tons (per year) of LPG, 300,000 tons or 2.8 million barrels (per year) of light naphtha,? the firm said.
Also inaugurated during the ceremony were the reflagging of PETRONAS petrol station in Kalimalang, East Jakarta, and the operation of Pertamedika liver and cardiac hospital in Sentul, West Java.
Pertamina acquired the petrol station from Petronas and turned into a Pertamina COCO (company own company operate) petrol station. The acquisition in line with the firm?s plan to increase the number of its COCO and CODO petrol stations to 557 in 2016, the firm said.
Meanwhile, the company said, the development of the Pertamedika hospital is an evidence of the firm?s serious participation in the efforts to promote the health of the public.
Editing by Johannes Simbolon