Indonesia's state refiner Pertamina will reduce throughput at its refineries and shut several of them as fuel demand in the country continues to weaken due to measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic. Pertamina's corporate communication vice president Fajriyah Usman said the output reduction would come in stages.
Through this cut, Pertamina hopes to ease the mounting inventory pressure. Indonesia's fuel and LPG stockpiles are reportedly at maximum capacity, with jet fuel and diesel inventories reaching their record- highs of more than 100 days.
Indonesia's nationwide fuel demand declined 35% from January-February, With demand in Jakarta and Bandung plummeting the most by almost 60%. Domestic gasoline consumption fell about 17% since March, while gasoil and jet fuel demand decreased by 8% and 45%, respectively.
Last week, the state refiner issued rare selling tenders for prompt cargoes of medium and heavy sweet crude grades Banyu Urip and Duri for May loading. It also issued selling tenders for Algeria's Saharan Blend. These crude grades usually went into local refineries. The company also negotiated with suppliers to defer gasoline shipments for April delivery.
Pertamina will perform maintenance at its 260,000 bpd Balikpapan and 50,000 bpd Sungai Pakning refineries and shut their CDUs in turns. The company will reduce output from the 118,000 bpd Plaju refinery while keeping regular operation at its 125,000 bpd Balongan, 348,000 bpd Cilacap, and 10,000 bpd Kasim refineries.
