Pertamina sees RCC unit at Balikpapan refinery operational in 2012

State oil and gas company PT Pertamina said Pre-Feasibility Study for its proposed residue catalytic cracking (RCC) in Balikpapan refinery, East Kalimantan is expected to be completed by year-end with completion seen in 2012.

Balikpapan Refinery Acting GM Michael Ricardo Sihombing said that the RCC will be utilized to process low value low-sulfur waxy residue (LSWR) into high value products. Currently LSWR accounts for 25 percent of the refinery?s production.

Pending the result of PFS, the size for the RCC unit is 50,000 BPD, he said.

Pertamina is teaming up with UAE firm Eta Star to construct the RCC unit.

Sihombing said that the completion of RCC unit will turn the refinery from money-losing to profit making one.

He also said that Pertamina also plan to reconfigure the refinery in order to anticipate decreasing domestic sweet cocktail crude supply. ?The plan is to enable the Balikpapan II refinery to be able to efficiently process mid-east sour crude,? he said.

The Balikpapan refinery consists of two units with total processing capacity of 260,000 barrels per day.(bernard)