Pertamina to Boost Pertamax Output, Pertamina
Release Date: 2012-01-25
State energy company Pertamina is planning to increase its production of high-octane unsubsidized gasoline so it is better prepared if the government follows through on a plan to restrict the use of subsidized fuel starting in April.
Pertamina is already having to import the high-octane fuel because demand is outstripping supply. Last year, it produced 460,000 kiloliters of Pertamax, while demand was 1.4 million kiloliters And that gap could widen under the government plan.
Pertamina spokesman Mochamad Harun said on Tuesday that if private cars were banned from using subsidized Premium, demand for Pertamax, which costs almost double, would hit three million kiloliters this year.
Harun said Pertamina planned to increase Pertamax production to one million kiloliters this year, while also boosting imports of high-octane mogas components (HOMC), an octane booster to convert Premium to Pertamax.
Edi Setianto, a director of processing at Pertamina, said that in the broader scheme of things, Pertamina wanted to gradually increase Pertamax production and reduce Premium output.
The company plans to boost Pertamax production to 1.85 million kiloliters in 2013, 2.12 million in 2014, 7.66 million in 2015, 8.45 million in 2016, 12.27 million in 2017 and 19.99 million in 2018, he said.
Meanwhile, Premium production will be cut gradually. Pertamina plans to produce 11.96 million kiloliters this year, scaling back to 10.79 million in 2013, 10.51 million in 2014, 4.19 million in 2015, and 3.06 million in 2016, he said.
Starting in 2017, Pertamina will no longer produce Premium, Edi said.
He said Pertamina would use two of its existing oil refineries, in Plaju in South Sumatra and in West Java’s Balongan, to boost Pertamax production.
Pertamina has six other oil refineries, including Tuban in East Java, Cilacap in Central Java, Dumai in Riau and Balikpapan in East Kalimantan.
Under a much-criticized plan, the government has said that it will restrict the use of Premium to public transportation vehicles and motorcycles from April 1 for Java and Bali, and gradually expand the restriction to the entire country by 2014.
Critics have attacked the plan, saying the necessary facilities and distribution infrastructure are not yet in place.
Even Pertamina’s president director, Karen Agustiawan, said last week that the company was not fully ready to support the plan.
Karen said Pertamina would not have enough fueling stations in Java and Bali to meet the increased demand for unsubsidized fuel
In the face of growing public pressure, a senior government official said on Friday that the government was now considering raising the price of Premium rather than gradually restricting its use beginning in April.
| Type: | NORMAL |
| Company: | Pertamina |
| Country: | Indonesia |
| Url: | http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/pertamina-to-boost-pertamax-output/493439 |