PT Pertamina has identified three international companies from which it will select one to serve as its partner in the construction and operation of a naphtha cracker in Indonesia.
The project is part of a plan by the state-owned company to increase its share of the Indonesian petrochemical market. Earlier, the company announced a plan to boost oil and gas production through acquisitions in Indonesia and elsewhere (OGJ Online, Oct. 16, 2012).
The cracker is to start up at an unspecified site in 2017 to produce 250,000 tonnes/year (tpy) of ethylene, 400,000 tpy of polyethylene, 350,000 tpy of polypropylene, and 200,000 tpy of polyvinyl chloride.
The short-listed companies are SK Global Chemical of South Korea, PTT Global Chemical of Thailand, and Mitsubishi Corp. of Japan.
Pertamina will select a partner within 4 months. It will hold a 51% share of the partnership, which will complete a feasibility study of the project by the end of 2013.
With start-up of the complex, estimated to require investment of at least $5 billion, Pertamina will claim 30% of the Indonesian petrochemical market. It aims to increase its market share to 80% by 2025.
