Pertamina runs Balongan refinery at full capacity
Monday, December 1 2003 - 09:36 AM WIB
Pertamina restarted the Balongan refinery in October after two months' maintenance, but a crude pipeline leak forced the company to run the refinery at 80 percent capacity.
"Balongan refinery is now running at 100 percent after the crude supply pipeline is back to normal. All units at the refinery work okay," Pertamina Deputy Director Dwi Kushartojo told reporters.
He also said a crude processing deal with Singapore Petroleum Co Ltd (SPC) would not be extended when it expires this month. Pertamina currently contracts SPC to refine 30,000 barrels per day of Iranian crude.
"Pertamina will still get oil products such as gasoline, kerosene and diesel oil from SPC through December, while the crude processing contract ends in November," Kushartojo said.
He gave no exact time frame on December oil products supply.
Kushartojo said Pertamina's nine refineries in Indonesia, with a combined capacity of around one million bpd, are running at almost 100 percent on average.
"However, Indonesia will still import oil products from abroad because domestic refineries cannot fulfil all domestic demand. Indonesia needs 20 percent to 25 percent (of its) oil products from imports," he said.
Pertamina's downstream director, Harry Poernomo, has said the firm is in talks with Japanese trading houses Mitsui & Co Ltd and Mitsubishi Corp on a new refinery to serve the large East Java market.
The refinery would process at least 150,000 barrels a day to supply the province of 36 million people and other areas in Java island.
"To build a new refinery is too expensive because the margin is very small," Pertamina finance director Alfred Rohimone said. "Pertamina can cooperate with other private companies in importing oil products to fulfil domestic needs.
"Pertamina can guarantee to buy those oil products for domestic needs but Pertamina should get shares in that co-operation. Such cooperation will be better than to build a new refinery," he said.(*)