Pertamina partners with PTT to build petrochemical industry
Tuesday, March 12 2013 - 06:00 AM WIB
State oil and gas company PT Pertamina has selected PTT Global Chemical Public Company Limited of Thailand as its partner to develop petrochemical industry in Indonesia.
The selection of PTT Global Chemical was made after a process of a beauty contest, which was participated by 11 petrochemical companies of global scale.
Following the selection, Pertamina will prepare a framework for the cooperation that will be contained in a head of agreement (HoA) to be signed in early next month, Pertamina said in a press statement on Monday.
After that, both companies will conduct a more detailed feasibility study for the development of the petrochemical industry. It is expected that by December this year, both of the firms will set up a joint venture to facilitate the development of the petrochemical industry in the future.
?PTT Global Chemical is a company that has a global reputation in the petrochemical industry. The cooperation is expected to stand as an early step in growing Pertamina to become the Asian Energy Champion in the year 2025,? said Pertamina President Director Karen Agustiawan.
?We hope that our cooperation will not only limited on the development of the petrochemical industry, but also expanded on marketing and research and development that will enable us to develop quality products that will be able to dominate the markets in Indonesia and Asia,? she said.
PTT Global Chemical is the largest producer of olefin and aromatic in Thailand, and the main player in Asian region with a total capacity of 8.2 million tons per year. Having an integrated plant, high technology, and high efficiency, the company is one of the main suppliers of petrochemical products in Asia Pacific region.
Pertamina has the largest refinery in Southeast Asia and the fifth largest in Asia that will enable the two companies to integrate the refinery business with the petrochemical industry.
?Pertamina is determined to become the main producer of petrochemical products in Indonesia with high quality and efficiency. We aim to make the petrochemical industry as one of our business pillars, besides the businesses of oil, gas, and other energy sources in 2025,? said Pertamina Trading and Marketing Director Hanung Budya.
At the early stage, Pertamina will develop a Naphta Cracker plant with a capacity of one million tons per year that is expected to start operation in 2017. After the development of the plant, Pertamina has targeted to control 30 percent market share at the local petrochemical market and hopefully it is expected to be growing bigger gradually at the local and international markets.
Editing by Benget Besalicto Tnb