Cracking progress: Pertamina's Cilacap Refinery Unit IV. (Tempo/Panca Syurkani)

State oil and gas firm PT Pertamina said on Sunday that its cracking unit in Cilacap, Central Java, was set to start commercial operations this month to help boost liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) production, which will eventually lower the domestic need for imports.

Nyoman Sukadana, general manager of Cilacap Refinery Unit IV, said that LPG production using Residual Fluid Catalytic Cracking (RFCC) started at the beginning of this month and is set to be distributed mainly to the public in domestic gas region IV in Central Java.

"Pertamina's commitment to fulfilling the public'€™s energy needs is shown by this LPG production increase at the Cilacap RFCC. This unit has been producing 1,066 tons of LPG per day and today [Sunday] we will distribute the first LPG yield of 2,000 tons," Nyoman said in a statement sent to thejakartapost.com.

The RFCC unit distributes LPG to Java, especially Central Java. Prior to the operation of the unit, Pertamina relied on LPG from other technologies at the Cilacap Refinery Unit IV '€“ which produced 200 tons per day of LPG '€“ and imports.

"With the operation of this RFCC unit, we can lower LPG imports for Central Java and Yogyakarta by up to 50 percent, which will have a significant impact on foreign exchange reserves," he said.

The RFCC Cilacap project is meant to help bolster production of High Octane Mogas to 37,000 barrels per day, of LPG to 1,066 tons per day and of Propylene to 430 tons per day.

With the new unit, Pertamina expects to save 5 to 6 percent of Indonesia's foreign exchange reserves. (rin)

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