PT Pertamina (Persero) states that there is an opportunity to export diesel fuel to the Asia Pacific market, including Australia and New Zealand, once all refinery projects are completed in 2026-2027. Therefore, it is still important to proceed with the refinery project.
Pertamina Megaprojects Processing and Petrochemical Director Ignatius Tallulembang said, after all, refinery projects had been completed, Indonesia would be able to meet all national fuel needs, aka no more imports. In fact, for diesel fuel, his side projects an excess of production that can be exported.
"Solar will exceed their needs. But if you look at supply-demand in the region, such as Australia and New Zealand, they are in deficit and this is our opportunity to export diesel after the refinery project is completed, "he said at an online press conference last weekend.
He explained, although the Asia Pacific region, in general, would have an excess supply of diesel up to 1.06 Million Barrels Per Day (BPD), not all countries are able to meet their own needs. Based on the data used by the company, there are five countries that are projected to have a shortage of diesel in 2030, namely Vietnam, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Australia, and New Zealand.
According to these data, Australia will have a solar deficit of up to 427 thousand BPD, followed by the Philippines 152,000 BPD, Vietnam 104 thousand BPD, New Zealand 40,000 BPD, and Papua New Guinea 23,000 BPD. On the other hand, in 2030 after the refinery upgrading and upgrading project construction has just been completed, Pertamina's diesel production is estimated to be around 600 thousand BPD with domestic needs below 500 thousand BPD.
"So, excess diesel is not a problem, because it can be exported to countries that need it," Tallulembang said.
The refinery project also needs to be continued to improve the competitiveness of refineries because the technology of refineries in Indonesia is out of date. National refineries have lower complexity compared to refineries in other more modern countries. As a result, the yield or conversion rate to refinery value products in Indonesia is only around 75% compared to modern refineries which have reached 95%.
"The economics of our refineries are lower. This is because the technology used by the old technology is unable to compete, "he said.
Though referring to the same data, in the Asia Pacific there are countries that also have a very large excess of solar production. Some of these countries are China with a volume reaching 639 thousand BPD, South Korea 491 thousand BPD, Singapore 220 thousand BPD, and Japan 110 thousand BPD.
After the refinery upgrading project, Pertamina targets the national refinery product yield to increase to 95%. Not only that, but the fuel produced will also have a quality equivalent to EURO V.
Stop importing petrochemicals
Not only targeting foreign markets, Tallulembang said, excess diesel can also be used to produce petrochemical products. Moreover, Indonesia is still very dependent on imports to meet the needs of domestic petrochemical products, namely polyethylene, propylene, and paraxylene and benzene.
This is because the company's refinery project is integrated with petrochemical facilities. Two new 300 thousand BPD refineries built by Pertamina in Tuban, East Java Province, and Bontang, East Kalimantan Province, will be equipped with petrochemical processing. In addition, the company is also building a crude oil processing complex into petrochemical products in Balongan, West Java Province with China Petroleum Corporation (CPC).
China Petroleum Corporation (CPC), Taiwan
"From the material balance of the refinery project, we can meet the needs of [petrokima] in the country and eliminate imports altogether," Tallulembang said.
From the company side, the petrochemical business is still very promising in the future. From the results of Pertamina's study and evaluation, the plan to build a refinery will provide added value or profitability for both the company and the country.
Referring to Pertamina's data, the petrochemical production capacity in 2018 is far from needed. Specifically, polyethylene production was recorded at 806-kilo tons per year (kilo tons per annum / KTPA) from the needs of 1,791 KTPA, then propylene production of 903 KTPA from the demand of 1,745 KTPA, and paraxylene and benzene 560 KTPA from the needs of 1,324 KTPA.
While in 2030, the production of polyethylene increased to 3,868 KTPA, propylene 4,378 KTPA, and paraxylene and benzene 1,918 KTPA. On the other hand, the needs of these three types of petrochemical are projected below production capacity, namely 3,459 KTPA for polyethylene, 3,240 KTPA for propylene, and 1,810 KTPA for paraxylene and benzene.
Investor Daily, Page-10, Tuesday, June 9, 2020.
No comments:
Post a Comment