Pertamina tells truth about problem at Balongan refinery
By: George Blunt
Saturday, July 22 2000 - 07:00 AM WIB
State oil and gas company Pertamina admitted that there was a damage at its refinery in Balongan, West Java and the repair work it had conducted at the refinery was not a routine overhaul.
"It was not a routine overhaul," company president Baihaki Hakim told reporters on Thursday, but he did not specify the problem at the refinery.
Earlier, Pertamina spokesman insisted that the state company had shut down the refinery for a routine overhaul.
Balongan's general manager Kosasih E Watnaya was quoted by Kompas daily as saying on Thursday that the refinery experienced a trouble at its atmospheric residue hydro demetalizer (ARDHM), which functions to remove metal contents from atmospheric residue as part of the process of producing naptha, kerosene, gas oil.
A part of the ARDHM, which functions to produce hydrogen, did not work well, Kosasih said.
The refinery resumed operation Friday after weeks of shutdown.
The refinery came in the spotlight over the past several days amid the shortages of Premium gasoline at several parts of the country as Pertamina and Minister of Mines and Energy Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono cited the shutdown of the refinery as one of the reason behind the fuel crisis.
Pertamina and the minister said the shutdown of the refinery caused a lack of Premium gasoline in Jakarta and its neighboring areas. Pertamina then took Premium gasoline from other refineries but the measure disturbed supplies to other parts of the country.
According to Kosasih, Balongan supplies 40 percent of Jakarta and neighboring areas' demand.
Balongan, which has the processing capacity of 125,000 barrels of oil per day, produces 57,500 barrels of Premium-type fuel, 9,300 barrels of kerosene, 29,600 barrels of automotive diesel oil, and 7,000 barrels of industrial diesel oil and 8,500 barrels of decant oil and fuel oil per day, Kosasih said.
Baihaki said Pertamina would import Premium to fill the domestic demand, noting the state company currently had a lot of money to do the purchase. (*)