Pertamina sets unleaded fuel plan<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The state-owned oil company Pertamina plans to
\nproduce enough unleaded gasoline to supply Greater Jakarta by
\n1999 under the Blue Sky Program to reduce air pollution.<\/p>\n
\"Our first target is sufficient production of unleaded
\ngasoline for the greater Jakarta area by 1999, and in the long
\nterm we expect to supply the whole country,\" Pertamina's
\nPresident Faisal Abda'oe said Wednesday.<\/p>\n
He was commenting on President Soeharto's order that Pertamina
\nphase out the use of lead as an additive in its gasoline by 1999.<\/p>\n
Lead is used to increase the octane power of gasoline, but
\nlead particles in the air can harm people's cardiovascular
\nsystems and their intelligence.<\/p>\n
Abda'oe said Pertamina began producing unleaded gasoline last
\nyear in its new refinery in Balongan, West Java.<\/p>\n
New technology at the Balongan refinery means Pertamina can
\nuse methyl tertiary buthyl ether instead of lead to enhance the
\noctane power of gasoline.<\/p>\n
\"Balongan has a production unit with a capacity of 2,400
\nbarrels of unleaded gasoline a day,\" said Abda'oe. The Balongan
\nrefinery has a processing capacity of 125,000 barrels of crude
\noil a day.<\/p>\n
\"We call the unleaded gasoline Super TT (Tanpa Timbal or
\nwithout lead) and we have sold small amounts of it to the
\npublic,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said Pertamina sold about 1,753 kiloliters of Super TT last
\nyear.<\/p>\n
\"This year, until September, we sold 1,890 kiloliters, and
\nnext year we hope to sell about 5,000 kiloliters,\" he said,
\nadding that all these sales were in Greater Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Next year, he said, Pertamina would build a similar production
\nunit, called a reformer, at its Musi refinery in South Sumatra.
\nIt would have a production capacity of 13,500 barrels of High
\nOctane Nogas Component (HONC), a type of unleaded gasoline a day.
\nIt is scheduled to begin production in 1999.<\/p>\n
New projects<\/p>\n
He said that by the year 2000, Pertamina would establish
\nsimilar units in Cilacap, Central Java, and in Balikpapan, East
\nKalimantan, with respective production capacities of 22,600
\nbarrels of HONC and 7,700 barrels of HONC a day.<\/p>\n
But, he said, it may be difficult to fund the development of
\nthe production units because of the cost of the new technology at
\nthe units.<\/p>\n
\"The cost of producing unleaded gasoline is slightly higher
\nthan producing leaded gasoline. That's why we have to sell
\nunleaded gasoline for Rp 1,000 (US$0.43) a liter compared to Rp
\n700 a liter for leaded gasoline,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Faisal said Pertamina was also trying to promote gas fuel for
\npublic transportation and reduce the amount of lead in its
\nregular gasoline.<\/p>\n
\"In 1990 our gasoline contained about 2.5 cc (of lead) per
\nU.S. gallon. We reduced it to 1.5 cc per U.S. gallon in 1994,
\nwhich is equivalent to 0.45 grams per liter of gasoline. Now
\nwe're trying to reduce it to 0.15 grams per liter,\" he said.
\n(bnt)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/pertamina-sets-unleaded-fuel-plan-1447893297",
"image": ""
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