Criticized For Being Lazy To Build A Refinery, Pertamina Boss: Securities For Us

President Director of PT Pertamina (Persero) Simon Aloysius Mantiri. (Photo: Doc. ANTARA)

JAKARTA - President Director of PT Pertamina (Persero) Simon Aloysius Mantiri opened his voice regarding the criticism of the Minister of Finance Purbaya Yudhi Sadives regarding the construction of the Pertamina refinery which has been going on for a long time.

According to Simon, the criticism submitted by Purbaya is meaningful input for Pertamina in running its business in the future and improving performance.

"Yesterday we heard the Minister of Finance saying that maybe not many refineries were built, of course it was a valuable input for us," said Simon, Tuesday, October 7.

Simon said that Pertamina has actually been pushing for refinery construction since 2019.

In the near future, his party will inaugurate the Balikpapan Refinery Development Master Plan (RDMP) project. The refinery, which is located in East Kalimantan, will be inaugurated on November 10.

The Balikpapan RDMP project itself aims to increase refinery processing capacity, which was originally 260,000 barrels per day to 360,000 barrels per day and also improve product quality from the equivalent of Euro 2 to the equivalent of Euro 5.

"Hopefully in November 10, November 10, we will start on stream of the Balikpapan RDMP project, namely the Balikpapan Refinery Development Master Plan which will later increase refinery processing capacity," he explained.

Dengan peningkatan produksi ini, Simon mengaku impor minyak bisa ditekan karena berhasil meningkatkan kinerja kilang.

"Tentunya dengan demikian impor kita akan berkurang, produk yang dihasilkan akan lebih baik dan produk yang dihasilkan nanti akan setara dengan Euro 5 yaitu kadar sulfur di bawah 10 ppm," tandas Simon.

With this increase in production, Simon admitted that oil imports could be suppressed because they managed to improve refinery performance.

"Of course, thus, our imports will decrease, the products produced will be better and the products produced will be equivalent to Euro 5, namely sulfur levels below 10 ppm," said Simon.