Pertamina seeks crude processing deal on refineries overhaul

State oil and Gas Company Pertamina is considering the possibility of crude processing deal (CPD) with Asian refineries to anticipate major turnaround of its two refineries that would take place in 2003, a company official said.

?Next year Pertamina will overhaul Balongan refinery, followed by Balikapapan II refinery, which means more fuel product import to meet domestic requirement. CPD is one of the options to procure the fuel products requirement as spot purchasing in large quantity by Pertamina could disrupt the tightly balanced market,? said Pertamina president Baihaki Hakim.

Balongan has refining capacity of 125,000 barrels per day (BPD), while Balikpapan II has the capacity to refine180, 000 BPD of crude.

Baihaki said Pertamina will not limit the CPD only with Singapore or Malaysia refineries, but will also look for options in countries such as Thailand and The Phillipines.

?They all have extra capacity and they might offer cheaper refinery fee than Singapore or Malaysia,? he said.(alex/godang)