REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, CILACAP -- Vice president Jusuf Kalla inaugurated the operation of Residual Fluid Catalytic Cracking and marked the ground breaking of Cilacap Blue Sky Project (PLBC) in Cilacap, Central Java, on Thursday.
The vice president also witnessed the signing of a contract between state-owned energy company PT Pertamina and JGC Corporation Japan, JGC Indonesia and PT Encona Inti Industri that have been confirmed as the executor of the PLBC refinery development project.
On the occasion PT Pertamina and Saudi Aramco also signed Head of Agreement (HoA) for increasing the capacity of Pertamina's Refinery IV in Cilacap.
In his speech vice president Jusuf Kalla said energy demand in Indonesia is high in line with the country's economic growth, increasing population and development needs.
In view of that industry and adequate facilities would be continuously needed, he said.
"Now we build and tomorrow we must build newer ones to meet needs. We used to produce oil and export it but now we import it but we hope through hard work and the facilities that have been provided we will be able to be self-sufficient and meet the domestic needs not only in terms of processing but also other downstream industries that grow here," he said.
He said one of the urgent needs is fuel oil and gasoline supply.
In view of that he hoped Pertamina besides developing oil fuel and gasoline industry it must also prioritize downstream industry to meet the domestic needs.
After the inauguration ceremony the vice president said that Indonesia has long suffered shortage of refinery capacity and so it has been dependent on imports including crude and finished products such as gasoline (premium) and others.
"Now the government and Pertamin wish to increase the capacity. We have inaugurated the Trans-Pacific Petrochemical Indotama and now we have this. We hope by 2019-2020 we will no longer import," he said.
Pertamina's president director Dwi Soetjipto said in his report that the RFCC Pertamina Refinery Unit IV Cilacap would increase the complexity of refinery to 6.0 to improve conversion of low value product like low sulphur waxy residue into high value product like gasoline, liquefied petroleum gas and propylene.
"The ground breaking of the RFCC project was done on September 30, 2011 with an investment of US$846 million," he said.
He said the RFCC project started operation on September 30, 2015 and today on November 26, 2015 it has been able to operate 100 percent or in maximum capacity.
The operation of the RFCC, he said, would increase LPG production by 1,066 tons per day or 32,000 tons per month to reduce import by 10 percent.
It will also produce 31,000 barrels of RON 88 gasoline per day or 930,000 barrels per month to reduce national import by 15 percent.
"In tandem with the operation of TPPI, Pertamina will be able to reduce import of premium (regular) gasoline by 30-35 percent, increase diesel oil production by 10,000 barrels a day or 300,000 barrels a month to reduce 30 percent of national import," he said.
"And with a 15 percent biomass policy in 2016 we will no longer import diesel fuel," he added.
Soetjipto said propylene production will increase by 430 tons per day or 12,900 tons per month and due to it there will no longer be imports High Octane Mogas Component.
He said HOMC imports used to reach 400,000 barrels per month and so around US$3.6 billion would be saved per year.
The ceremony was also attended by state enterprises minister Rini Soemarno, energy minister Sudirman Said and fishery minister Susi Pudjiastuti and a number of House Commission VI members.
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