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.