Tender for Bontang refinery project may be delayed

Tender for the Bontang refinery project in East Kalimantan may be delayed from the initial target of this year as the government has yet to complete the process of searching for potential investors, Kontan reported on Monday.

The paper quoted Setyorini Tri Hutami, Director for Oil and Gas Downstream Development at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, as saying that the government has also yet to complete the tender document.

"We're searching (for potential investors) everywhere, but tender will still be held to get the best (investor)," Rini said.

Meanhile, Minister Sudirman Said acknowledged that preparations for the Bontang refinery project takes quite sometime, but hopes that the tender could as planned this year.

The estimated US$14 billion Bontang refinery project, which will have a capacity of 30 million bpd, has been targeted to be completed in 2023.

As has been previously reported Russia's Rosneft and Saudi Aramco are among of the potential investors in the project.(*)