Bontang Oil Refinery Mega Project

Samarinda, Tuesday 5/4/2016. The city of Bontang is one of the cities in East Kalimantan which has become a hot topic of discussion among participants 2016 East Kalimantan Musrenbang in the context of preparing the Kalimantan Regional Government Work Plan (RKPD) East Kalimantan in 2017 because it was likened to a windfall where other regions or regencies/cities throughout East Kalimantan were really hoping for the presence of large investors both from abroad and domestically amidst the decline in the global economy which also had an impact on the region, Bontang City became one of the selected places for the Oil Processing Unit or Oil Refinery Mega Project by Pertamina.

Quoting the news on www. Processindustri.com with the title Pertamina Oil Refinery Mega Project in Bontang City, according to information from PT. Pertamina will allocate funds of 120 trillion for the refinery project and it is planned that the construction process will begin in 2017.
In the results of the meeting between the Bontang City Government and the DPRD and the central government, it was stated that from the start the city of Bontang had been prioritized for this refinery project. This decision has been adjusted to several aspects so that finally Bontang is declared ready to accept this project and in the future it will serve the supply of fuel oil (BBM) and LPG products to several regions in Eastern Indonesia.

The efforts that are currently being realized by the Bontang City Government are speeding up the process of required permits such as IMB (Building Construction Permit), land acquisition and regional development permits based on city spatial planning.

The Bontang oil refinery will be built on PT. Badak NGL covers an area of ​​550 hectares with a construction time of around four years. It is planned that the refinery will have a capacity of 300,000 barrels/day, if this is the case then it is certain that the capacity of this new refinery will exceed the Balikpapan oil refinery which only has a capacity of 260,000 barrels per day.

The Bontang City Government program which will turn Bontang City into an industrial area seems to be in line with the Pertamina oil refinery construction project. Later, when this new oil refinery officially operates, it will increase the amount of national fuel oil production by 300,000 barrels and is estimated to absorb 10,000 workers at both skilled and unskilled levels.

Seeing the large number of workers that can be absorbed certainly makes many people wait and hope that the Bontang oil refinery construction project will be completed quickly and become operational. I myself hope that one day petroleum engineering graduates from East Kalimantan universities will be able to have a career/work at this new refinery considering that the increasing number of East Kalimantan youth are continuing their education in the field of petroleum engineering.

It should be noted that currently Bontang has several large-scale industrial sectors which are quite well known in Indonesia, such as PKT Bontang (Pupuk Kaltim Bontang) and the liquefied natural gas company PT. Rhino NGL. Apart from the oil and gas and petrochemical sectors, this city also has coal mining areas such as the PT. Indominco.

With the Bontang oil refinery construction project, it will certainly make people, especially in East Kalimantan, hope that in the future fuel shortages which still frequently occur in various regions can be minimized, because it is truly a shame and it will sound strange if cities that have oil and gas processing units still experience shortages of fuel oil and other processed petroleum products. According to a quote from www.produkindustri.com with the title Pertamina Oil Refinery Mega Project in Bontang City.

Meanwhile the Mayor of Bontang Hj. Neni Moerniaeni on the occasion of delivering a presentation at the 2016 East Kalimantan Province Musrenbang event in the context of preparing the 2017 RKPD for East Kalimantan at the Sempaja Samarinda Convention Hall, Monday 4/4/2016 that the Bontang City Government was ready to accept the Oil Processing Unit or Oil Refinery Mega Project in Bontang City and would speed up all permitting and land clearing processes. Said the Mayor of Bontang.

Meanwhile, based on a quote from Liputan6.com, the commitment of the Joko Widodo (Jokowi) government to accelerate the construction of an oil refinery in Bontang, East Kalimantan and a petrochemical industrial area in Tuban, East Java is expected to reduce Indonesia's dependence on imported fuel oil (BBM). Without oil refineries, this country will certainly become the largest importer of fuel in the world.

Apart from that, there are projects to build two new refineries in Bontang, East Kalimantan and in the petrochemical industrial area, Tuban, East Java. "Constructing an oil refinery is a necessity for Indonesia. Because this country has not built an oil refinery for more than 20 years," he explained in Jakarta, Tuesday (9/2/2016). According to a quote from Liputan6.com with the title Without Building New Refineries, RI Could Become the Biggest Importer of Fuel.

Meanwhile, based on a quote from tempo.co, PT Pertamina (Persero) was appointed as the person responsible for the refinery construction project in Bontang, East Kalimantan. The project will be carried out by the state-owned oil company together with business entities. "Pertamina will look for private business partners," said Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Sudirman Said after attending a follow-up coordination meeting for the construction of the Bontang refinery in Jakarta, Tuesday, February 9 2016.

To support Pertamina's work, said Sudirman, the government asked the Ministry of Finance to choose an international consultant to accompany the auction process and look for investors. "We are targeting to decide on a partner by October this year. Once the Ministry of Finance appoints an international consultant, Pertamina can work to accompany the (interested) team to carry out the auction," he said.

He said the government had prepared 600 hectares of land, adequate infrastructure and tax incentives in the form of a tax holiday. The provision of tax relief can be extended for up to 15 years to attract investor interest.

Sudirman hopes that the project can be in harmony with refineries in Tuban (East Java) and Arun (Aceh). The two refineries are in the process of restructuring so they can increase national oil production capacity. "With this decision, large projects related to refineries have started to roll out and hopefully this can become a driver of investment and economic turnaround," he said. Source according to quotation from www.tempo.co with the title Working on the Bontang Refinery Project, Pertamina will Collaborate with Investors. (Public Relations of Bappeda Kaltim/Sukandar, S.Sos).