JAKARTA: Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe's largest oil producer, may build a refinery in Indonesia even as National Iranian Oil Co. scrapped a similar plan, Industry Minister Mohamad Hidayat said. Shell may team up with Saudi Arabian Oil Co. and PT Pertamina to build the refinery in Tuban in the province of East Java, Hidayat told reporters in Jakarta Friday after meeting executives from a unit of Shell. Darwin Silalahi, head of Shell's Indonesian unit, and Budiman Moerdijat, a spokesman, didn't respond to two phone calls and mobile text messages. A Dharan-based spokesman for Saudi Aramco declined to comment. “The government is preparing a fiscal policy to help attract investors, including for the Aramco project,” Hidayat said. Pertamina will act as an agent to market fuels from the Tuban refinery, he said. Indonesia wants to boost investments in refineries to reduce the nation's dependence on imports of oil products. Consumption of subsidized fuel may rise 6 percent this year to 42.5 million kiloliters because of an increase in vehicle sales, Djaelani Sutomo, marketing director at Pertamina, said in June. Indonesia imports diesel, gasoline and jet fuel because its refining capacity lags behind consumption. Pertamina, Indonesia's state oil company, will agree this year with Aramco on the development of a $5 billion refinery project, Karen Agustiawan, president director of Pertamina, said Dec. 6. The plant will have a capacity of as much as 300,000 barrels a day, she said. Pertamina will also sign a $5 billion accord with Kuwait Petroleum Corp. to expand the Balongan refinery in West Java by as much as 300,000 barrels a day.
