Tuban fuel transit terminal to be operational next week

State-owned oil and gas company PT Pertamina will start operating next week the BBM (petroleum-based fuels) transit terminal in Tuban, East Java, which has a capacity of 150,000 kiloliter.

Pertamina?s marketing director Djaelani Sutomo said in Jakarta on Monday that the terminal, whose development started in 2006, was expected to strengthen the energy security of the country.

?With the operation of the new facility, we?ll raise our national stock of Premium gasoline from an average of 17 days to 19 days. If there is one refinery off, we still have a secured stock,? he told the press before attending a hearing with the Commission VII of the House of Representatives (DPR) in Jakarta on Monday.

According to him, after operating the Tuban terminal, his company will also start operating another BBM terminal in Bau-bau, Southeast Sulawesi in 2011. This facility will have a capacity of 50,000 kiloliter. ?It?s still under construction. Hopefully, we can finalize it next year,? he noted.

He added that the BBM terminal in Tanjung Uban, which will have a capacity of 200,000 kiloliter of Premium gasoline, will start operation in 2012. (*)