Bontang Refinery to Prioritize Imported Crude
26 June 2015 14:06 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The government and PT Pertamina (Persero) will start constructing the Bontang oil refinery in East Kalimantan. The facility is expected to have a refining capacity of 350,000 barrels per day.
Erman Salman Arief, general manager of Pertamina Balikpapan Processing Unit, said the refinery will focus on processing imported crude oil.
Bontang refinery construction is expected to cost US$12 billion. The project is scheduled for completion in 2021.
I Gusti Nyoman Wiratmaja Puja, director general of oil and gas at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, said that crude oil imports have increased. Therefore, Pertamina is in need of new refineries.
Along with Bontang, Puja said there are four areas that the government is mulling to build oil refineries in; all located in eastern Indonesia.
SG WIBISONO