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'New tech needed to reduce refineries' unplanned shutdowns'
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Deputy Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Arcandra Tahar (Antara/Akbar Nugroho Gumay)
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eputy Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Arcandra Tahar has revealed that oil refineries operated by state-owned oil and gas holding company Pertamina had experienced frequent and unplanned shutdowns in June and July.
“Yesterday [Oct. 8], we discussed efforts to minimize the unplanned shutdowns,” Arcandra said on Tuesday in Jakarta as reported by kompas.com.
He noted that the refineries that frequently experienced unplanned shutdowns were in Dumai, Riau, and in Plaju, South Sumatra, but he did not provide details on the ' impacts of the shutdowns.
Arcandra also said that efforts had been made to address the problem, but that the results were "not optimal". He stressed the importance of readying anticipatory measures for unplanned shutdowns.
“The world's refineries already use a maintenance system that can predict [when] the problems [might occur],” he said, adding that anticipating problems was necessary to maintain the refineries' high performance and productivity.
He said Pertamina planned to adopt the predictive maintenance refinery technology through the addition of certain instruments to ensure that the refineries worked optimally.
Arcandra also expressed the hope that all refineries in the country would soon employ predictive maintenance technology. “We have to apply the technology as soon as possible. The devices [needed] for the technology are not very expensive,” he said. (bbn)
