Oman will invest US$7bn to build oil storage facilities, a petrochemical plant and a refinery as well as supply crude oil to the Southeast Asian country, an Indonesian minister has announced
Indonesia’s energy minister Sudirman Said said that the refinery would be built in Indonesia’s Riau Province with the state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina purchasing oil products, Reuters reported.
“We are now in the process of issuing the permits,” Said revealed, adding that groundbreaking was expected next year.
Indonesia’s fuel output has suffered from a lack of investment in its refining sector since the construction of its last refinery was completed in 1994.
To date, the country has six oil refineries operated by state owned firm Pertamina. However, the refineries are old and can no longer operate at full capacity, leading to rising imports of petroleum products.
Pertamina currently has one million bpd in refining capacity, which it plans to raise to 2.3mn bpd through upgrades and additional plants, industry sources added.
Figures from Oman’s Ministry of Oil and Gas showed that the sultanate currently produces an average of 960,300 barrels of crude oil and condensate daily, Jakarta Post said.
