CPC Corp. and Pertamina in discussions to build new naphtha cracker in Indonesia

CPC Corp., Taiwan said that PT Pertamina is looking at tying up with Taiwan’s state-owned oil company to establish a naphtha cracking plant in Indonesia after the Indonesian state-owned oil and gas company rejected a plan to relocate CPC’s mothballed Kaohsiung naphtha cracker there.

CPC has initiated an alternative plan to sell the naphtha cracker unit in full or in part by public tender, the company said.

A new naphtha cracker, with an annual capacity of 500,000 metric tons of ethylene, will cost an additional investment of USD 352 million, according to CPC. Pertamina is now looking at establishing a joint venture with CPC to build a new facility with a production capacity of 1 million metric tons of ethylene per year, CPC said.

Pertamina has proposed four possible locations for the new naphtha cracker unit, CPC Vice President Huang Jen-hung (黃仁弘) said. CPC will solicit interest from Taiwanese companies who interested in investing in the new facility through a public bidding process, Huang said. An assessment report is expected to be completed in late November, he said.