Pertamina's Oil Refinery Unit (RU) IV in Cilacap. (Image via: Katadata)

Pertamina finishes Blue Sky Project in Cilacap

CILACAP - Indonesian state-owned oil and natural gas corporation, Pertamina, announced that the Cilacap Blue Sky Project (PLBC) was finished and ready to fully operate. PLBC is a project proposed by Pertamina which commenced since 2015 as an advanced project of Residual Fluid Catalytic Cracker (RFCC) establishment in Cilacap.

By the finishing of the project, Pertamina hoped that Indonesia could get rid of its dependence on importing raw material for Pertamax.

Director of Refinery and Petrochemical Megaproject at Pertamina, Ignatius Tallulembang, revealed on Monday (22/7) that PLBC utilized the latest technology to enhance the quantity and quality of oil fuel. One of the ways is by a significant decrease in import of blending component of any gasoline product, high octane mogas component (HOMC) which means a significant decrease in import and a significant increase in ecology health.

Due to importing the components, Indonesia’s balance of trade in terms of oil and gas is still deficient according to data from the Indonesian Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS). Fortunately, the deficit of the balance in 2019 only reached US$4.78 billion, decreasing by 14.9% from 2018 at US$5.62 billion.

The oil fuel produced by PLBC was rumored to have a RON 100 quality, equivalent to EURO 4. Higher EURO means lesser carbon dioxide, sulfur, and negative particle, fulfilling Pertamina’s eco-friendly mission.

Pertamina calculated a 66.8% increase in oil production's number at the Refinery Unit (RU) IV Cilacap from 1 million barrels per month to 1.67 million barrels per month. The increase is hoped to contribute to Indonesia’s Gross Domestic Income (GDI) by 12%. PLBC produces 348,000 barrels per day, involving about 2,500 employees, 70% of them are from Cilacap.

Source: https://www.cnnindonesia.com/ekonomi/20190722104100-85-414290/proyek-langit-biru-kelar-pertamina-berharap-impor-bbm-turun