Sudjana inaugurates fuel transit terminal in Bali

Sudjana inaugurates fuel transit terminal in Bali

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Mines and Energy I.B. Sudjana yesterday inaugurated the Manggis Transit Terminal in the village of Ulakan, 55 km east of Denpasar. The terminal is expected to facilitate fuel distribution in the provinces of Bali, West and East Nusa Tenggara and East Timor.

Bali Governor Ida Bagus Oka warmly welcomed the new facility, recounting how the island's economy was almost paralyzed during a severe fuel shortage in 1990.

Bali's fuel consumption grows by seven percent per year, according to the state-owned Pertamina oil company. It is currently 675,000 kiloliters of fuel per month.

Previously, it got its fuel supply through the Sanggaran terminal, which has a storage capacity of only three days of Bali's fuel needs. The new terminal has a capacity equal to 17 days of the island's requirements.

The minister noted that as Indonesia consists of thousands of islands, the country is facing difficulties distributing adequate supplies to all the outlying areas.

"Due to such a geographical condition, we have to pay a high cost for our fuel distribution," he was quoted by Antara as saying in Denpasar.

The 172,915 square meter Manggis Transit Terminal was built by the CIBD consortium, consisting of Citra Muda Nusantara, Intimarindo Primacon, Benoa Mekanika and Duta Firsa. It has two piers, one of which is able to berth tankers of up to 35,000 dead weight tons (dwt) and the other one up to 6,500 dwt.

The terminal has 19 storage tanks, for a variety of fuels, with a total capacity of 162,000 kiloliters and two liquefied petroleum gas tanks, each with a capacity of 500 tons. (13)