REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Six investors have shown interest to construct an oil refinery in Bontang, East Kalimantan, stated Deputy Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro.
"The four investors who have conducted consultations are from Japan, while the other one is B (British Petroleum). I am not able to recollect the country of origin of the other one," he noted here on Friday.
Bambang emphasized that the government plans to hold a detailed meeting with the six investors before preparing an international tender to finalize the permanent investor for the refinery project on the 500-hectare plot of land.
"We will invite those who are really interested. We have now requested them to submit more detailed draft technical proposals," he explained.
He claimed the government has also given its assurance with regard to land use, off-taker, and tax incentives for the investors, as part of its efforts to accelerate the development of the refinery, which is expected to have a capacity of over 300 thousand barrels a day.
"Minimally, the investors need not be troubled by uncertainties and the land can be rented, so they need not buy it, thereby reducing their burden," he added.
The government has earlier conducted a market consultation in Singapore, which was attended by representatives from more than 30 noted oil and gas companies and regional industries in the Asia Pacific region, the Middle East, and others in an effort to find investors for the project.
The event was also attended by officials from Indonesia's Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources as well as the state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina that gave the technical presentation about the project.
The project worth Rp90 trillion will be a step towards achieving the government's self-sufficiency target in the domestic market by 2022.
Currently, Indonesia imports 30 percent of its needs for oil-processed products. The import trend is forecast to further increase, unless more refineries are built in the country.
The project being offered is actually a public-private cooperation scheme wherein foreign and domestic investors can build and operate the project to meet market needs, he added.
He reported that the distribution of jobs and responsibilities of various stakeholders who will be involved in the project as well as other concerned parties will be settled in the next few months.
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