Pertamina Chases Target

Unfortunately, the progress of refinery construction megaprojects is still slow due to various problems, especially the amount of investment needed. Not to mention, the margin of difference between production costs and selling prices is also relatively small. 

     Various efforts have been made by the government, ranging from providing incentives, tax breaks, ease of licensing, to providing locations. However, it was not also able to accelerate the completion of the construction of refineries in this country.

President Joko Widodo in TPPI Tuban East Java

President Joko Widodo also expressed his frustration several times. Until finally in December last year directly checked the Grass Roof Refinery / GRR Tuban construction project, East Java, which was integrated with PT Trans-Pacific Petrochemical Indotama (PT. TPPI). 

    At that time Jokowi even gave PT Pertamina (Persero) an ultimatum by giving 3 months to confirm the position and strategy of the Tuban Refinery development.

Pertamina was asked to accelerate the completion of the refinery project before the end of 2023. Based on Pertamina's data, from a number of projects accelerating the modernization of the existing refineries (Refinery Development Master Plan / RDMP) as well as the construction of new refineries (Grass Roof Refinery / GRR) with a total investment of the US $ 40-US $ 50 billion.

The Balikpapan refinery has progress of more than 13% and this year it is targeted to reach 40%. Furthermore, the development targets for the Balongan and Cilacap Refineries in Central Java are still 10% each. For the Cilacap Refinery, Pertamina in 2012 has actually cooperated with Saudi Aramco. However, as of March 2020, there was still no clarity about the cooperation plan.

Saudi Aramco

"We are still waiting for their offer [Saudi Aramco] as to what for this new scheme," said Pertamina President Director Nicke Widyawati.

Nicke Widyawati

The cooperation scheme has changed, bearing in mind that in nearly 3 years the agreement to form a joint venture between Pertamina and Aramco in the Cilacap Refinery project did not immediately meet an agreement related to asset valuation. 

    However, the cooperation options are certainly similar to the development of the Balikpapan Refinery. Overall Nicke is optimistic that the target of lifting 1 million barrels of oil per day (BPD) can be achieved 4 years faster than the original plan of 2030. Moreover, Pertamina continues to accelerate the construction of refineries, day and night, so that it can be completed faster and targeted.

"This optimism is because in 2026 most of the new refineries we have built are already in production."

Pertamina continues to explore various opportunities to acquire oil and gas blocks abroad and is targeting to drill 411 wells by 2020, an increase of 17% compared to the 2019 target of 351 wells. The company even allocated an investment of US $ 7.8 billion, up 84% compared to 2019 valued at the US $ 4.2 billion.

Fajriyah Usman

Pertamina Corporate Communication Vice President Fajriyah Usman added that by accelerating the construction of the refinery, the refinery capacity is targeted to be 2 million barrels so that it can meet domestic fuel needs from its own refineries.

"The target is for all RDMP and GRR megaprojects to be completed in 2026, and gradually refinery capacity increases starting in 2022," Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR) Executive Director Fabby Tumiwa believes that the slow agreement with potential Pertamina partner investors is an obstacle to refinery development in addition to funding problems.

"What needs to be done immediately is the acceleration of agreements with partners for other refineries. In addition, EPC contracts for upgrading refineries, for example, Balongan West Java, and Dumai refineries in Riau Sumatra. " 

     However, he is optimistic that the RDMP project will start to look successful in 2022-2024, provided the agreement with Pertamina's partners does not back down. "The SOE and Pertamina ministries are trying on track, especially as the project is monitored by the President."

Various efforts have been made to realize the dream of building a new refinery. If the realization is still slow, maybe because it is indeed "not all happy with the project".

Bisnis Indonesia, Page-23, Monday, March 9, 2020