Pertamina may want bigger stake in refinery JV

Indonesia’s state oil firm PT Pertamina said it wants to have a bigger stake in a planned US$1.5 billion joint venture with Japan’s Mitsui & Co. to build a refinery in Central Java. Pertamina said previously a preliminary agreement had been reached to build a residue fluid catalytic cracking unit (RFCC) with a capacity of around 60,000 barrels per day (bpd) of gasoline at its existing Cilacap refinery in Central Java. Under the agreement, Pertamina would take a 20% stake in the project and Mitsui 80%. “Actually, we don’t want to delay this refinery project. We are re-evaluating the business scheme, including shareholder positions,” Pertamina President Director Karen Agustiawan said. A move by Pertamina to seek a higher stake could threaten the financial support from the Japanese side, as financing has already been approved by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation. Pertamina had previously said construction was due to start by 2008 at the latest and operations in 2010. (August 4, 2009)