Cilacap refinery upgrade kicks off with awarding of basic engineering design study

Saudi Aramco and PT Pertamina (Persero) have awarded the engineering and project management services contract to conduct the basic engineering design study for their joint project upgrade of Cilacap refinery, Indonesia’s largest oil refinery, to UK-based Amec Foster Wheeler Energy Ltd.

“As the Cilacap refinery upgrade will be implemented jointly by Pertamina and Saudi Aramco, this milestone is considered as a significant achievement towards this joint venture formation,” said Rachmad Hardadi, Pertamina’s refining director.

Amec Foster Wheeler will develop the scope for the proposed project and will finalise the process configuration and licensors’ packages over the next nine months.

The upgrade is part of Pertamina’s Refinery Development Master Plan to improve Indonesia’s energy security by expanding and upgrading the state-owned oil company’s ageing domestic refineries.

The overall upgrade project cost for the Cilacap Refinery, which is located in central Java, is approximately USD 4-5 billion.

Once the upgrade is completed, the capacity of the refinery will increase to 370,000 barrels per day (bpd). In addition, gasoline and diesel fuel production will be maximised and high quality quality base oils will be produced from the refinery, which are targeted to be absorbed domestically. The upgrade will also enhance the petrochemicals capacity of the refinery to more than 600,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) of aromatics and 160,000 tpa of polypropylene.

The project upgrade is targeted for completion by the end of 2022.