Pertamina to expand capacity of existing refineries

State-owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina plans to expand the production capacity of its five existing refineries to around 1.6 million bpd from the current combined capacity of 1.03 million bpd in a bid to help cut down fuel import, Kontan reported on Monday.

The paper quoted Acting President Director of Pertamina, M. Husen as saying that the expansion of the existing refineries would be conducted over the next five years period, while the company continues to seek opportunities to develop new refineries.

The refineries to be expended include Dumai refinery (existing capacity of 170,000 bpd), Plaju (133,700 bpd), Cilacap (348,000 bpd), Balikpapan 260,000 bpd), and Balongan (125,000 bpd).

Husen, however, did not disclose the investment requirement for the capacity expansion project.

Meanwhile, Husen was quoted by Bisnis Indonesia daily as saying Monday that the company has resumed talks with Saudi Aramco to develop a new refinery in Indonesia, but acknowledged that considering the low margin of refinery project, there has been demand from the investors for fiscal incentives. He added that the company has dropped an earlier plant to team up with Kuwait Petroleum for a new refinery project. (*)