Pertamina mulls two additional refineries

State-owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina is considering to develop two additional fuel refineries with a combined capacity of 600,000 bpd in 2023 to help meet growing oil fuel demand at home in the future, Kontan reported Friday.

The paper quoted Pertamina Processing Director Rachmad Hardadi as saying that among of the potential areas for the location of the planned refineries are Arun (in Aceh province) and Lombok (in Nusa Tenggara Barat province).

Pertamina?s existing four fuel refineries have combined output of 853,000 bpd compared to installed capacity of 1.04 million bpd. Meanwhile, domestic fuel consumption stands at 1.57 million bpd, forcing the country to import some of the fuel needs.

The company is currently in the process of modernizing the four refineries to help increase output, and plans to build a new one in Tuban, East Java, in partnership with Russia?s Rosneft. It is also planning to build another one in Bontang.

Pertamina said that the modernization program, and the development of two new refineries in Tuban and Bontang will bolster production capacity to 2 million bpd by 2023. By 2025, domestic fuel consumption is projected to jump to 2 million bpd.

If the planned additional refineries in Lombok and Arun are also realized, the capacity will be further increased. (*)