Oil Producing Regions in Indonesia, from Biggest to Oldest – As a country already famous for its rich natural resources, there are several oil producing regions in Indonesia. Some of these oil-producing areas can be seen from the presence of oil refineries. The oil refinery itself is a place to process petroleum to be converted into fuel oil products.
An oil refinery is basically an industrial facility for processing crude oil. Furthermore, the crude oil will be made into ready-to-use petroleum products or various other types of fuel oil products. Some of the main products that are processed at oil refineries, such as gasoline, diesel fuel, kerosene, naphtha oil, and many more.
Indonesia’s status as one of the countries with the largest oil reserves in the world has made this country have many oil refineries spread across various regions in Indonesia. Until now, there are seven regions known as oil producers in Indonesia, including Cilacap, Balikpapan, Musi, Dumai, Balongan, Cepu.
A. Oil Producing Regions in Indonesia
sinaumedia.com managed to summarize five regions that have long been known as oil producers from Indonesia. The following are the five largest oil-producing regions in Indonesia, namely:
1. Cilacap, Central Java
The first oil producing area is Cilacap. The area or district that is included in the administrative area of Central Java Province has long been known as the largest oil producer in Indonesia. In addition, the Cilacap refinery or often referred to as Refinery Unit IV Cilacap is an oil refinery with the most complete facilities owned by Indonesia.
With a capacity of up to 348,000 per day, the Pertamina Cilacap oil refinery is the largest oil refinery in Southeast Asia. The Cilacap oil refinery itself is basically a merger of two oil refineries in the area. The first oil refinery was built in 1974 with a capacity of only 100,000 barrels of oil per day.
Due to the increasing demand for fuel and lubricating oil, the refinery was rebuilt to undergo a Debottlenecking project to meet demand. After being successfully built, the oil refinery has a capacity of up to 218,000 barrels of oil per day.
It is not surprising that the oil refinery in the largest district in Central Java has a very strategic value. This is because the Cilacap oil refinery has supplied around 34 percent of the national demand for fuel oil (BBM), and nearly 60 percent of it is used to meet the demand for fuel in Java.
Apart from fuel, the Pertamina Cilacap oil refinery also produces asphalt and base oil to meet the needs of infrastructure development in Indonesia. This makes the Cilacap oil refinery the only oil refinery in Indonesia that produces asphalt and base oil.
2. Balikpapan, East Kalimantan
The second oil-producing area in Indonesia is Balikpapan. This area in the province of East Kalimantan has the second largest oil refinery in Indonesia, after the oil refinery in Cilacap, Central Java. Even so, the Balikpapan oil refinery or often referred to as the Balikpapan Refinery Unit V has a production capacity of up to 260,000 barrels of oil per day.
With a production capacity of up to 260,000 barrels of oil per day, currently the Balikpapan oil refinery has been able to meet 26 percent of the Indonesian state’s fuel oil (BBM) needs, especially the domestic demand in the eastern part of Indonesia.
The existence of an oil refinery in Balikpapan itself has long been discovered since the pre-independence era. In 1897, the Dutch East Indies Government named the oil-producing area the Mathilda Well. Then, since 1922, the Dutch East Indies officially established the Balikpapan Oil Refinery and started producing oil.
Since it was first established, the Balikpapan oil refinery has undergone several repairs. This of course continues to be done in order to increase margins and production capacity of oil refineries. Several products from the Balikpapan oil refinery have also been adjusted to the Service Level Agreement (SLA), starting from various types of fuel products such as Premium, Solar, Pertadex, and Pertamax. Not only that, non-fuel products are also in accordance with the SLA, namely Smooth Fluid 05 and LPG.
3. Musi, South Sumatra
The third oil-producing area in Indonesia is the Plaju oil refinery or known as Refinery Unit III Plaju. This oil refinery is located on the banks of the Musi River, Jalan Beringin I, Plaju, Palembang City, South Sumatra. The Plaju oil refinery can be said to be the oldest oil refinery in Indonesia.
The Plaju oil refinery itself has two refinery locations that were established before the Indonesian state became independent. The Plaju oil refinery was first established by Shell from the Netherlands in 1904. Not long ago, in 1926, Stanvac from the United States succeeded in establishing the Gerong oil refinery. Now, the two oil refineries are combined to become the Plaju Refinery which operates under the management of Pertamina.
Currently, the Plaju refinery has a production capacity of up to 127,300 barrels of oil per day. One of the main activities of this oil refinery is processing crude oil. In addition, the Plaju Refinery is also capable of processing intermediate products into finished products. Several finished products that were successfully produced, including Premium Kerosene, Diesel, Fuel Oil, LPG, Avtur, Pertalite, Pertamax, to Pertamax Racing.
4. Dumai, Riau
The fourth oil-producing area in Indonesia is the City of Dumai. Dumai City is one of the areas included in the Riau Province. This oil refinery located in the Dumai area is known as the Putri Tujuh Refinery or often referred to as the Sungai Pakning Oil Refinery. The third largest oil refinery in Indonesia is under the management of Pertamina Refinery Unit II Dumai.
The Seven oil refinery is located on Jalan Raya Refinery Princess Seven, Tanjung Palas, East Dumai, Dumai City, Riau. This oil refinery, which has been operating since 1971, has a production capacity of up to 127,000 barrels of oil per day. Production results from the Seven Oil Refinery itself will be distributed to various regions throughout Indonesia, even to foreign countries.
Its production capacity includes fuel and non-fuel. It is not surprising that the Tujuh Oil Refinery has fuel products, such as Aviation Turbine Fuel (Avtur), Diesel Oil, Fuel Oil, Diesel Oil and Kerosene. Meanwhile, the non-fuel products produced by the Seven Oil Refinery include three types, starting from Solvent, Green Coke, to LPG.
Since being operated for the first time in 1971, the Tujuh oil refinery, Dumai has made a real contribution to the development and progress of regions in Indonesia, especially the city of Dumai and its surroundings. The Tujuh oil refinery also makes a large contribution to meeting national scale fuel needs.
5. Balongan, West Java
The fifth oil-producing area in Indonesia is Balongan, West Java. The Balongan oil refinery itself is the fifth largest oil refinery in Indonesia. The Balongan oil refinery, also known as Refinery Unit VI Balongan, is located in Indramayu, West Java. However, this oil refinery operates in the Balongan, Mundu and Salam Darma areas.
This oil refinery which has been operating since 1994 has main business activities for processing crude oil. With a production capacity of up to 123,000 barrels of oil per day. The Balong Oil Refinery is capable of converting crude oil into products such as Fuel Oil, Non-Fuel Oil, and Petrochemicals. Some of its products are Premium, Pertamax, Pertamax Plus, Solar, Pertamina DEX, Kerosene or kerosene, LPG, and Propylene.
The existence of the Balong oil refinery itself has a very important role for Pertamina’s business continuity. Not only that, this oil refinery is also one of the most important oil refineries for the country. This is because the development of the Balongan Oil Refinery has innovative business potential, starting from the application of new technology, new product development, and application of international standards.
6. Kasim Oil Refinery, Papua
The sixth oil-producing area in Indonesia is located at the eastern end of Indonesia, namely the Kasim Oil Refinery. The Kasim oil refinery itself is located in Malabam Village, Seget District, Sorong Regency, Papua Province. The location of this oil refinery can be said to be quite strategic. This is because it is adjacent to Petrochina’s Kasim Marine Terminal (KMT).
The Kasim oil refinery actually started operating in July 1997. Since then, this oil refinery has been under the management of the Pertamina Refinery Unit (RU) VII. The product capacity of the Kasim refinery itself is capable of reaching 10,000 barrels of oil per day. However, this oil refinery is designed to process Crude or crude oil from the Walio and Salawati areas. The Kasim oil refinery has been able to meet the national fuel demand by up to 15 percent, especially the needs of the Maluku and Papua regions themselves.
7. Cepu, Central Java
The seventh oil-producing area in Indonesia is Cepu. Cepu Regency is an area that is included in the administrative area of Central Java. East Java is the largest oil producer in Indonesia. The Cepu oil refinery itself is known as the Cepu Block, which includes Blora Regencies, Central Java and Tuban Regencies as well as Bojonegoro Regencies, East Java.
Based on data from SKK Migas in 2019, the Cepu oil refinery is capable of producing up to 220,000 barrels of oil per day. However, the Cepu oil refinery is managed by Pertamina and ExxonMobil. With this achievement, it is possible that after the operation of the oil refinery in the Sukowati area, Tuban, this area’s oil refinery will become the largest oil producing area in Indonesia.
8. Brandan Base, North Sumatra
The last oil-producing area in Indonesia is Pangkalan Brandan, North Sumatra. The Pangkalan Brandan oil refinery itself is located in the Langkat Regency, North Sumatra. This oil refinery, which was built for the first time in 1892, caught fire in 1947 during a military aggression from the Netherlands.
However, the Pangkalan Brandan oil refinery has been closed since early 2007. This is due to a shortage of supplies of crude oil and gas at that point. However, recently there was news that the Pangkalan Brandan Oil Refinery would be active again.