Antara, Jakarta – The President Director of Indonesia's PT Pertamina (Persero), Simon Aloysius Mantiri, has responded to comments from Minister of Finance Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa regarding the slow progress in refinery construction.
Simon described the remarks as valuable feedback to strengthen Indonesia's efforts toward national energy resilience.
"We heard from the Minister of Finance yesterday that not many refineries are being built. Certainly, that is valuable input for us," Simon said during the Indonesia Energy Drives event in Jakarta on Tuesday, October 7, 2025, as quoted by Antara.
Simon highlighted that one of Pertamina's major ongoing projects between 2019 and 2025 is the Refinery Development Master Plan (RDMP) Balikpapan, which is part of the National Strategic Projects (PSN) and focuses on developing an integrated oil and petrochemical refinery in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan.
According to Simon, Pertamina aims to commence operations at the RDMP Balikpapan facility on November 10, 2025.
"We are targeting the near future. Hopefully on November 10, we can start the on-stream phase of the RDMP Balikpapan project," he said.
The RDMP Balikpapan project is expected to significantly increase Indonesia's refining capacity, produce higher-quality fuels that meet Euro 5 standards, and reduce the nation's dependence on imported fuel.
"This is an important milestone because it is our duty to continuously improve and develop refineries to achieve the best performance in production," Simon added.
Earlier, Minister Purbaya urged Pertamina to accelerate the construction of new oil refineries to reduce reliance on fuel imports and, in turn, ease the burden of energy subsidies
The statement was made during a working meeting with Commission XI of the House of Representatives (DPR) in Jakarta on September 30, 2025.
Purbaya also emphasized that he would personally monitor Pertamina's progress on proposed projects. He expressed hope for stronger collaboration between the government and the state-owned oil company in achieving energy self-sufficiency.
"I'm not just a spokesman. I will personally oversee whether these projects are actually being carried out," Purbaya said.