Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto on January 12 inaugurated the Refinery Development Master Plan (RDMP) project at Refinery Unit V in Balikpapan City, East Kalimantan, marking the start of operations at Indonesia’s largest oil refinery.
As reported by the country’ national news agency Antara, in a livestreamed speech observed in Jakarta, Prabowo said the Balikpapan refinery, operated by state-owned energy company Pertamina, is the first RDMP project to be inaugurated in Indonesia in the past 32 years.
The president welcomed the completion of the facility and expressed his hope that it would help reduce Indonesia’s dependence on imported fuel, citing the country’s significant potential in biodiesel, geothermal, solar, and hydropower energy.
He underscored the need for Indonesia to manage and utilise its abundant energy resources effectively in order to achieve energy self-reliance.
Meanwhile, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia confirmed that the Balikpapan facility is Indonesia’s largest oil refinery, built with an investment of 123 trillion IDR, or around 7.3 billion USD.
The refinery has a processing capacity of up to 360,000 barrels of oil per day, equivalent to about one quarter of national demand. Its output includes fuel products, liquefied petroleum gas, and petrochemicals.
The facility is also projected to reduce fuel imports by 68 trillion IDR, contributing 514 trillion IDR to gross domestic product./.
Indonesia develops clean energy ecosystem for new capital
The involvement of Indonesia's strategic state-owned companies such as Pertamina will strengthen the vision of developing Nusantara into a “forest city” with low carbon emissions, through close collaboration between the government and the business community.
