Pertamina seeks crude supply for new refineries

Officials from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources and state oil and gas company PT Pertamina will tour Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Libya to discuss the possibility of receiving crude oil supply for Indonesian refineries.

Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said in Jakarta on Monday that Indonesia needed to secure sustainable crude oil supply for the Bojanegara, Tuban and Balongan refineries to be built by Pertamina.

Meanwhile, Pertamina?s Processing Director Rukmi Hadihartini Rukmi said Kuwait Petroleum International had expressed interest to become long-term supplier of crude for the new refineries.?Aside from Kuwait Petroleum, Pertamina would also approach Saudi Aramco,? she added.

Pertamina is currently building two refineries each with a capacity of 300,000 barrels per day (bpd), respectively located in Bojanegara, Banten; and Tuban, East Java. In addition, the state company is also expanding its Balongan refinery complex in West Java by adding a new production unit. The new unit will have a capacity of 200,000 bpd.

According to Purnomo, once the new refineries have begun their operation, Pertamina would no longer need to import gasoline to meet domestic fuel demand. (*)