ertamina’s upgraded Balikpapan oil refinery will start operating in November, its chief executive has said, marking progress in the country’s long-delayed bid to cut reliance on costly fuel imports.
As part of the Balikpapan Refinery Development Master Plan (RDMP), the facility located in East Kalimantan will launch its residual fluid catalytic cracking (RFCC) unit to produce diesel, jet fuel and a small volume of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), Pertamina CEO Simon Aloysius Mantiri told reporters at the State Palace on Friday.
“As I mentioned earlier, we plan to start operating the RFCC unit of the RDMP on Nov. 10 to produce diesel, jet fuel and a bit of LPG,” Simon said.
A second unit, designed to process naphtha into gasoline, was scheduled to follow in June 2026, he added.
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Balikpapan is one of Pertamina’s largest refineries. The upgraded facility will boost the state-owned oil and gas company’s processing capacity to around 360,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 260,000 bpd at present, for the production of fuel oil, LPG and petrochemicals.
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The additional capacity will make it the country’s largest refinery, edging out Cilacap’s 345,000-bpd plant.