Oil Refinery initiates potential partnerships for $3.2B upgrade in Indonesia
JAKARTA, (Reuters) - Pertamina has approached the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (Socar) and Japan’s JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp for possible partnerships to upgrade Indonesia’s Balikpapan oil refinery, a Pertamina director said.
Indonesia’s state-owned energy company Pertamina had earlier initiated a partnership with JX Nippon for the Balikpapan upgrade but canceled their cooperation in January 2016 amid cost concerns and a longer-than-expected project timeline.
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Earlier, Pertamina estimated the first stage of the Balikpapan upgrade to cost up to $3.2 billion.
“If there’s more than one (partner) it would be OK. We’d have a majority (holding) of 51 percent at least,” he added referring to the refinery upgrade project in East Kalimantan province.
Pertamina’s acting Chief Executive,
Setiawan said Pertamina is “also in the process of seeking a partner” for its planned upgrade for the Balongan refinery.
“All our refineries are open” to forming partnerships, he said.
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A Tokyo-based spokesman for JX Nippon did not immediately respond to a written request for comment.
(Reporting by Wilda Asmarini; Additional reporting by Aaron Sheldrick in TOKYO; Writing by Fergus Jensen; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
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