Pertamina will soon open EPC tender for new Cilacap refinery unit

State oil and gas company PT Pertamina will soon launch the tender for the construction of a new residual catalytic cracking (RCC) unit at the Cilacap refinery plant in Cilacap, Central Java.

The company?s vice president for planning and optimization, Husni Fachruddin, said in Jakarta on Friday that the decision to call for bids for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract of the new RCC unit was made after Mitsui of Japan pulled out from the project.

He said that Pertamina initially planned to build the new RCC unit using its own resources in cooperation with Mitsui. The two companies had agreed to form a joint venture to handle the EPC works of the US$1.5 billion project. Mitsui latter withdrew from the project.

The new RCC unit which would process residual fuel products into high octane fuel was initially scheduled for commercial operation in 2012. (*)