Saudi Aramco and Pertamina are continuing to cooperate in preparing for the development of the Cilacap refinery, according to a statement issued on 18 June by the Indonesian state firm. The two firms have agreed to jointly appoint financial advisors to finalize the valuation of the project by end September. “Hopefully it will become a win-win solution…and accelerate the start of the development of Cilacap refinery,” Pertamina says.
Aramco originally agreed to take a 45% stake in Pertamina’s $4-5bn Cilacap refining and integrated petchems project, whose first stage will be to increase crude distillation capacity from 348,000 b/d to 370,000 b/d and boost upgrading capacity of an existing refinery. Aramco subsequently asked to reduce its interest to 30%, suggesting it was re-evaluating the agreement (MEES, 26 August 2016). Cilacap is one of a number of overseas refining/petchems projects being pursued by Aramco, although its takeover of Saudi petchems firm Sabic appears to be the priority (MEES, 19 April). (CONTINUED - 156 WORDS)