Indonesia’s Pertamina plans to establish oil refinery in Kenya

Jakarta, The Gulf Observer: Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Maritime and Investment Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan revealed that state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina plans to expand its business to East Africa by establishing an oil refinery in Kenya.

“Pertamina will enter Kenya after being asked to establish an oil refinery there. We also see an opportunity to bring their crude oil to Indonesia,” Pandjaitan stated here on Friday.

Following a meeting with Pertamina’s President Director Nicke Widyawati, the coordinating minister remarked that the option to bring Kenya’s oil to Indonesia aims to cater to the high demand for the commodity in Indonesia.

“It is their oil that will go to us because we still need it,” he stressed.

However, he admitted to having no idea about the production capacity potentials in the planned oil refinery in Kenya, as the planning is underway.

“We are still finalizing it, and there will be more meetings (about it) if I am not mistaken,” Pandjaitan noted.

During his earlier visit to Kenya’s capital Nairobi last January, Pandjaitan invited President William Ruto to bolster strategic economic cooperation between Indonesia and Kenya.

The coordinating minister echoed Indonesia’s aspirations to work more closely with African countries on strategic issues, such as energy transition, digital transformation, sustainable development, and industrialization.

Pandjaitan highlighted that strengthening bilateral cooperation will be consistent with the framework of South-South cooperation, conceived during the Asian-African Conference in Bandung in 1955.

Indonesia is also ready to collaborate with Kenya in various aspects, primarily in the transition to renewable energy, development of green and smart ports, digitization in governance, strategic infrastructure development, and palm and food industry development, he affirmed.

Kenya is also expected to be the hub for the production and distribution of Indonesian products in the Eastern African region, he noted.