Pertamina to build fuel-piping system for Java, Sumatra
Saturday, August 12 2000 - 01:30 AM WIB
Learning from the recent fuel scarcity problems, state oil and gas firm Pertamina has decided to build an integrated piping system of fuel distribution in Java and Sumatra islands, and reviving old storage facilities or building new storage facilities.
Pertamina president Baihaki Hakim told Kompas on Friday that Pertamina would revive piping projects involving foreign and domestic investors that were canceled because of the economic crisis and graft allegations.
The projects that would be revived include Cilacap-Malangbong-Balongan (Central and West Java), Padalarang-Sukabumi (West Java), Rewulu-Semarang (Central Java), Yogyakarta-Madium (Yogyakarta and East Java) and Kertapati-Jambi (South Sumatra and Jambi).
"The recent breakdown in the Balongan refinery plant and the fuel scarcity problems give a special meaning for pertamina. We will soon revive a number of projects that were collapse because of the economic crisis and graft allegations," he said.
The one that would be built soon was the Cilacap-Malangbong-Balongan piping project, to circumvent distribution bottleneck from Cilacap refinery plant to Jakarta that is currently connected by seas transportation.
The 130-kilometer Cilacap-Malangbong-Balongan project would cost Rp 100 trillion.
"So far there have been a number of foreign investors from Singapore and Malaysia interested in the project. We will conduct an open and transparent project," Baihaki said.
He added that Pertamina would re-negotiate the value of the Kertapati-Jambi pining project with the Bakrie Group. He added that Pertamina would not anymore use a marked-up price in the negotiation. If they could not reach an agreement on prices, the project would be re-tendered.
Besides piping, Pertamina would also build a new storage facility in Tanjunguban (South Sumatra) to supply fuels to Eastern parts of Indonesia.
In addition, Pertamina would revive Balaraja fuel depot to support the Plumpang depot to supply fuels to the Greater Jakarta areas.
"We will re-negotiate the prices. If we cannot reach an agreement, we will re-tender the projects. Pertamina will certainly reject projects that have been marked up," he said.
Baihaki also said that early investigations showed that the explosion of the Balikpapan II refinery plant was caused by a leakage in one piping system that was caused by corrosion.
He vowed to take stern actions against those responsible to check and maintain the piping system in the refinery plant. (*)