Pertamina to raise product imports in October

Sept. 22, 2008
Indonesia's Pertamina plans to increase its imports of products in October to 13 million bbl from the normal 10 million bbl due to planned maintenance at its 125,000-b/d Balongan refinery.

Eric Watkins
Oil Diplomacy Editor

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 22 -- Indonesia's state-owned PT Pertamina plans to increase its imports of products in October to 13 million bbl from the normal 10 million bbl due to planned maintenance at its 125,000-b/d Balongan refinery.

Hanung Budya, Pertamina deputy director, marketing and commerce, said most of the additional imports will be comprised of gasoline, which will rise to around 5 million bbl from 3 million bbl. Pertamina also plans to increase its reserves of gasoline by importing some 5.4 million bbl in November.

Pertamina processing director Rukmi Hadihartini announced the maintenance plan in August, saying that the work would require some 57 days of down time at the facility.

It is the second time this year that Indonesia has had to increase its imports of refined products due to a closure at the Balongan facility.

In early May, Pertamina said it would import an additional 1 million bbl of gasoline and 400,000 bbl of high-speed diesel due to a partial closure of the refinery's 83,000-b/d residual catalytic cracking (RCC) unit. By late May, the Balongan refinery was running at full capacity again.

Last December, Pertamina awarded Toyo Engineering a $300 million contract to expand the Balongan refinery, aiming in particular to upgrade the facility's RCC unit.

Contact Eric Watkins at [email protected].