Pertamina to upgrade old oil refinery plants

State oil company Pertamina plans to renovate and upgrade its old oil refinery facilities as part of the company's program to improve efficiency, Neraca reported on Thursday.

Deputy president of the company Mustiko Saleh said in a hearing with members of the House of Representatives (DPR) that the renovation would be carried out on a number of old refineries including Kasim refinery in Papua.

The old refinery plants which were no longer feasible for upgrading would be offered to other companies or converted to petrochemical facilities, he said. "Oil refinery such as Brandan in North Sumatra could be closed or being converted for chemical production," he added.

According to him, the conversion of old oil refineries into chemical processing facilities is also in line with Pertamina's program to further boost its petrochemical business. "We will later have a special division handling petrochemical business," he said. (*)