Pertamina will overhaul Balongan refinery plant next year

Pertamina will overhaul the Balongan refinery plant in August next year and this will cause a halt in production activities of the refinery?s three oil processing units for at least 70 days, Republika reported on Monday.

The plant?s general manager M. Soehartono told the daily that the overhaul would be the third to be carried out since 1996. The second overhaul was conducted in 1999. "All the preparation for the overhaul and its possible impact are still being worked on," he added.

Soehartono said that although the overhaul works would take 56 days to complete, the whole overhaul process would need at least 70 days. "All the Duri and Minas crude oil supply would be halted during the overhaul works," he said.

Balongan refinery plant which is located in Indramayu, West Java is one of the country?s major oil refinery plants. The plant processes Duri crude oil from Riau (about 70 percent), Minas crude oil also from Riau (20 percent) and Jatibarang (10 percent).

He said that the government should made extra fuel imports during the stoppage of the Balongan refinery plant. "We don?t know yet the volume of the extra fuel imports but the financing has been included in the state budget," he added. (*)