Saharan crude arrives in Balikpapan
Thursday, March 27 2014 - 08:45 AM WIB
The 107,538 MT vessel was welcome by Pertamina?s managed in a modest ceremony at Lawe-Lawe port.
The crude was produced from a field which was recently partly acquired by Pertamina
It took 75 days for the vessel to travel from Cilacap port in Central Java to Azrew port in Algeria and back home to Lawe-Lawe.
Pertamina?s Corporation Communication Vice President Ali Mundakir said the vessel, piloted by Capt. Brahma Adeyanto, left Cilacap on Jan. 9 and carried out loading activities in Azrew on Feb. 24. It then traveled back to Indonesia, arrived at Suez Canal on March 2. From Suez Canal, the vessel, guarded by four British sailors, continued to Sri Lanka and arrived in Balikpapan on Thursday morning.
?This is the first international trip by MT Gunung Geulis and also the first international trip by a vessel owned by Pertamina after a more than 27 year vacuum,? Ali said
The Saharan crude will be refined at the Balikpapan Unit V refinery owned by Pertamina to produce oil products such as Premium and Pertamax gasoline, kerosene, aviation fuel, LPG.
?After two days of unloading, the Saharan crude, which is of high quality, light crude type, will be processed together with other crudes at Balikpapan refiner to meet the fuel needs of the domestic market,? Ali said.
The Balikpapan Unit V refinery has the capacity of 260,000 bpd, able to meet 26 percent of fuel needs of the country. Most of the refinery?s products are distributed to eastern Indonesia and East Java.
Editing by Johannes Simbolon