Pertamina moves to avoid fuel shortages

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Mon, 05/28/2007 8:37 AM | Business

Ika Krismantari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

State-owned oil and gas firm Pertamina is to increase the output of kerosene and diesel at a refinery in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, to avoid fuel shortages following a technical problem at its Dumai refinery in Riau.

Pertamina spokesperson Chusnul Busro told Antara output from the company's Balikpapan refinery will be increased by 10 percent from its current output of 260,000 barrels per day.

He said the additional 26,000 barrels per day would replace a deficit of 27,000 barrels per day from the Dumai refinery.

Last Friday, Pertamina's head of processing Suroso Atmomartoyo said the firm had to shut down one of its two hydro crackers at Dumai, which resulted in a cut in kerosene and diesel production by 50 percent.

The problem is believed to be the cause of fuel shortages in some regions in Sumatra.

Soroso said Pertamina would also look for additional output from other refineries.

The Balikpapan refinery accounts for 25 percent of Pertamina's total output of 1.045 million barrels of processed oil per day, while the Dumai refinery produces approximately 160,000 barrels per day.

Pertamina currently has six refineries.

Comments (0) | Post comment

A | A | A |