Indonesia’s state-owned oil and gas company PT Pertamina said its production of high-octane gasoline at its Cilacap refinery will rise sharply by 66.8%, following completion of the Cilacap Blue Sky Project (PLBC).

The production of the Pertamax-type fuel in the Cilacap Refinery Unit (RU) IV will increase from 1 million barrels per month to 1.668 million barrels per month, the company said.

This means Pertamina can significantly reduce imports of high-octane motor gasoline components used in blending gasoline products, says PT Pertamina (Persero) Processing and Petrochemical Megaproject Director Ignatius Tallulembang.

The increase in Pertamax production greatly helped Pertamina to meet domestic fuel needs, especially during this 2019 Ramadhan and Eid al-Fitr period, he said.

“Pertamina adopts the latest technology in the PLBC project to increase the quantity and quality of fuel products, including increasing the quality of gasoline previously RON 88 to RON 100 which is equivalent to EURO 4. Thus, Pertamina can reduce imports of high octane mogas component (HOMC) as a component of gasoline blending products significantly,” he said.

He added, besides having an impact on the profitability of refineries, this project is also in line with government programs in order to realize energy independence because it can reduce imports.

PLBC is a continuation project of the construction of Cilacap Residual Fluid Catalytic Cracker (RFCC), which began in late 2015. Until March 2019, achieving safe working hours without the PLBC project lost time injury (LTI) reached more than 17 million safe working hours.

PT Pertamina (Persero) Corporate Communication Vice President Fajriyah Usman added that as a commitment to concern for the environment, PLBC has carried out many social activities during the project, including providing school facilities, planting mangroves, assisting with funds to repair houses of worship, and providing stimulus funds for not a recipient of BPJS Employment wages.

“For this concern, PLBC received an award from the Regent of Cilacap for its participation in supporting welfare for workers through the BPJS Employment program,” said Fajriyah.