Pertamina mulls modifying oil refineries

State oil and gas firm Pertamina said Friday it planned to modify its refineries so they could also distill imported crude oil.

The company?s refining plants had been designed mainly to process Indonesian crude oil, Pertamina president director Baihaki Hakim said.

Baihaki however did not say when his company would materialize its plan.

He told reporters that Pertamina would have to refine more crude from overseas because domestic crude supply was declining. Moreover, domestic demand for fuel would continue increasing, Baihaki said.

Pertamina currently operates nine oil refineries which are located in Balongan (W. Java); Pangkalan Berandan (N. Sumatra); Dumai and Sungai Pakning (C. Sumatra); Musi (S. Sumatra); Balikpapan (E. Kalimantan); Cepu and Cilacap (C. Java); and Kasim (Papua). (godang)