Pertamina, Itochu in Balikpapan refinery revamping deal
Tuesday, October 2 2007 - 12:27 AM WIB
State oil and gas company PT. Pertamina has signed deal with Japanese firm Itochu Corp. to jointly revamp Balikpapan refinery and to increase capacity to 280,000 BPD from 260,000 BPD currently, CEO Ari Soemarno said.
Ari said the revamping would also include shifting the feed to sour crude from sweet crude.
Ari said construction is expected top start in 2009, with completion seen in 2011.
He further said that the partnership is looking for stable sour crude supply from Middle East, especially Kuwait. “We are still looking for other investor cum supplier from Middle East that can guarantee sour crude supply, “ he said.
Indonesia, which has nine oil refineries with a total combined capacity of around 1 million bpd, is Asia's top diesel and gasoline importer. (godang)