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il and gas giant Saudi Aramco is seeking to reduce its stake in the Cilacap refinery project in Central Java, leaving its Indonesian partner Pertamina to absorb the difference.

Saudi Aramco’s intent was conveyed by interim Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Luhut Pandjaitan on Wednesday.

“What has happened with the Cilacap project is that it [Saudi Aramco] has asked to decrease its share to 35 percent from 45 percent. I don’t know why,” Luhut said, adding that the reason could be entirely finance-related.

Saudi Aramco currently has a 45 percent share in the US$5.5 billion project, while state-owned oil and gas firm Pertamina controls the remaining 55 percent.

The share reduction may mean that Pertamina will bear a heavier financial burden for the project, but Luhut said Pertamina was financially capable of handling the burden.

Although the two firms signed a heads of agreement last November, a joint venture agreement is expected to be officially signed during the visit of King Salman in October this year.

The upgraded Cilacap refinery is expected to be operational in 2022 with an increased production capacity of 370,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) from 340,000 bopd.

Luhut said that the government would try to convince Saudi Aramco to speed up construction, so that the Cilacap facility will be operational by 2021.

The Cilacap project is part of Pertamina’s Refinery Development Master Plan (RDMP). Under the master plan, Pertamina is set to build several new refineries, including refineries in Bontang, East Kalimantan, and Tuban, East Java.

It is also set to upgrade three existing refineries in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, Dumai in Riau, and Balongan in West Java.

When all new construction work and upgrades are completed, the refineries will produce a combined output of 2.3 million bopd by 2025 from less than 1 million bopd at the moment.

National oil demand continues to increase annually and reached 1.6 million bopd by the end of last year. However, the country’s refineries are only capable of producing around 800,000 bopd.

This has made the country dependent on imports and the master plan is expected to reduce that dependence.

Saudi Aramco has expressed interest in upgrading the Dumai and Balongan refineries, but has yet to take concrete steps in that direction. Each upgrade will cost around $5 billion.

Apart from the refinery projects, the government plans to offer Saudi Arabia several other projects to invest in.

Luhut said the Saudis were interested in developing 2x500 megawatt (MW) steam-fueled power plants in Sumatra and in partnering with Pertamina to supply jet fuel at the King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.

Pertamina spokesperson Wianda Pusponegoro said Saudi Aramco had not officially expressed its intention to lower its share in the Cilacap project, but added that Pertamina was enthusiastic about the possibility of selling jet fuel at the King Fahd airport.

“We are ready to work together with Saudi Aramco to supply jet fuel at the King Fahd airport,” she said.

Reuters reported that Saudi Aramco declined to comment on matters relating to the Cilacap refinery.