Jakarta - Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Bahlil Lahadalia stated that the completion of the refinery development master plan (RDMP) project or revitalisation of the Balikpapan Refinery faced many challenges.
"This RDMP project, Mr President, has had many challenges. I must be honest and say that there has been a lot of drama,” said Bahlil in front of President Prabowo Subianto during the inauguration of the Balikpapan Refinery RDMP project in East Kalimantan on Monday (12/1/2026).
Bahlil said that the Balikpapan Refinery RDMP project was supposed to be completed in 2024, but part of the refinery caught fire.
According to Bahlil, his party suspects that the refinery was set on fire, rather than catching fire, by parties who did not want the project to be completed.
‘We requested an investigation, and it turns out there is more to this than meets the eye. There are still parties who are unwilling to accept that we have energy reserves and self-sufficiency. They want imports to continue,’ said Bahlil.
These challenges, he continued, were successfully overcome, and now President Prabowo Subianto has inaugurated the completion of the Balikpapan Refinery revitalisation or RDMP project.
The Balikpapan RDMP project has an investment value of around US$7.4 billion or equivalent to Rp124.79 trillion (exchange rate of Rp16,864).
Bahlil emphasised that through the construction of the RDMP, fuel production capacity has increased from 260 thousand barrels per day (KBPD) to 360 KBPD equivalent to Euro V.
In addition, the project increased the Refinery Complexity Index from 3.7 to 8, and the percentage of product value increased to 91.8 per cent from the previous 75.3 per cent.
The development of the Balikpapan refinery is an important step towards achieving energy self-sufficiency in line with the Astacita programme, so that Indonesia no longer relies on imports of fuel oil (BBM) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for domestic needs.
‘With the operation of the Balikpapan RDMP, we can reduce our dependence on BBM and LPG imports and produce products with EURO V-equivalent quality, which are certainly more environmentally friendly,’ said Bahlil. (InfoPublik)