Pertamina considering building refinery with Kuwaiti investor

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - State oil and gas company PT Pertamina is looking into the possibility of cooperating with a Kuwaiti investor to build an oil refinery to better ensure domestic fuel oil supplies.

"We have began discussing the planned construction of an oil refinery with a number of Middle Eastern investors, including from Kuwait," Pertamina President Director Ari H Soemarno said here on Thursday.

But he stopped short of revealing where the refinery would be set up and the amount of investment needed for the project.

Asked about Pertamina`s plan to build an oil refinery in Banten province in cooperation with the Iranian government, he said it would be built on a plot of land owned by state port operator PT Pelindo in the Bojanegara area.

"We are in the middle of making engineering preparations. And in August this year, the Iranian oil minister will come (to Indonesia to inspect the location)," he said.

He said the Banten oil refinery would be built in two stages.

"The Banten oil refiney will consist of two trains with each of them expected to process 150,000 barrels per day," he said. end
(*)