Balongan to resume operation next week

Balongan to resume operation next week

Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post, Indramayu, West Java

State-owned oil and gas company PT Pertamina expects its Balongan
oil refinery in Indramayu, West Java, to resume full operation on
Feb. 4.

Spokesman of Pertamina's Indramayu operation Suwandi said on
Tuesday that repairs were currently in progress.

"We hope that the RRC unit will be repaired by Feb. 4, and the
refinery can resume full operation," he told reporters, referring
to the facility's residue catalytic cracker unit, which processes
crude into fuel products.

The RRC unit suffered a break down on Jan. 21, three months
after the Balongan refinery completed routine overhaul work. The
breakdown has caused the production capacity of the Balongan
refinery to drop by 60 percent from its full capacity of 125,000
barrels of oil per day.

The Balongan facility is the country's main refinery because
it processes low quality crude into high quality fuel products
particularly for the highly populated West Java and Jakarta
market.

Pertamina has said domestic fuel consumption of around 1.1
million barrels per day would not be under threat because the
company has secured an import contract from Singapore to fill the
production gap and ensure a 22 day to 25 day supply.

The current breakdown is the fifth such incident at the
Balongan facility since it began operation in 1994.

Suwandi said that the cause of the current breakdown was not
known.