Indonesia lets contract for Balikpapan refinery

Feb. 2, 2017
PT Pertamina (Persero) has let contracts to Honeywell UOP LLC, a subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc., to provide technology licensing and engineering design for a grassroots unit and expansion of an existing unit as part of the operator’s project to upgrade and modernize its 260,000-b/d refinery in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, Indonesia.

PT Pertamina (Persero) has let contracts to Honeywell UOP LLC, a subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc., to provide technology licensing and engineering design for a grassroots unit and expansion of an existing unit as part of the operator’s project to upgrade and modernize its 260,000-b/d refinery in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, Indonesia.

Honeywell UOP will deliver licensing and engineering for a new continuous catalyst regeneration (CCR) unit equipped with its proprietary CCR Platforming technology for production of cleaner-burning, high-octane motor fuels, the service provider said.

Pertamina will use the new 33,000-b/d CCR Platforming unit to help meet Indonesia’s growing domestic demand for Euro 4-quality clean fuels, as well as to help phase out current production of 88 RONC gasoline, according to Honeywell UOP.

As part of the same project, Honeywell UOP will provide licensing and engineering for an expansion involving a 47,000-b/d unit equipped with its proprietary Unionfining hydrotreating process for production of kerosine jet fuel that meets increasingly more stringent fuel regulations.

The expansion leg of the project will increase overall capacity of existing Unicracking units at Balikpapan to 60,000 b/d to help meet eastern Indonesia's domestic demand for high-quality diesel fuels, according to the service provider.

While Honeywell UOP did not disclose a value of the contracts, these latest contract awards follow Pertamina’s announcement in 2014 that it would undertake a 10-year, $25-billion plan to modernize five of its Indonesian refineries as part of an initiative to ensure long-term energy security for the country (OGJ Online, Dec. 15, 2014).

Last year, Pertamina let a series of contracts to Axens SA and CB&I to provide technology licensing, design, and engineering on additional grassroots units to be added during the Balikpapan modernization (OGJ Online, Oct. 6, 2016; July 25, 2016).

Contact Robert Brelsford at [email protected].