Riyadh – Mubasher: Indonesian Pertamina plans to put off some refinery upgrades, including some joint ventures (JV) with Russian Rosneft and Saudi Aramco, due to financing issues, Reuters reported.
The director of megaprojects and petrochemicals at Pertamina, told reporters that the timing of the targeted completions had been delayed so as the cost would not be a burden.
Rachmad Hardadi added to Reuters that such readjustments were needed so the projects would fit with upstream acquisitions and infrastructure requirements.
“Pertamina was awaiting a green light from the board of partner Saudi Aramco for its plan to delay the completion of the $5 billion upgrade of the 348,000 bpd capacity Cilacap refinery in Central Java to 400,000 bpd to 2023 from 2021,” Hardadi noted.
The pushback would mean that Indonesia, which is one of Southeast Asia's biggest fuel importers, may have to import more oil products than previously planned over the next decade, Reuters stated.
In August, Indonesian energy minister Luhut Pandjaitan had said that Saudi Aramco may reduce its stake in the $5.5 billion Cilacap refinery project in Indonesia.
