Iran to build oil refinery plant in Banten

Serang, Banten (ANTARA News) - The government of the Islamic Republic of Iran is planning to build an oil refinery plant worth US$400 billion in Bojonegara, Serang, Banten, Iranian Ambassador to Indonesia Behrooz Kamalvandi said here on Saturday.

"President Ahmadinejad, the supreme executive leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, has met with the Indonesian president in Jakarta several months ago to sign various Indonesian-Iranian cooperation documents, including on the development of an oil refinery plant in Banten, the Iranian Ambassador said.

In press statement sent to the Human Relations office of the Banten regional government, the ambassador said the refinery plant would likely be built in Bojonegara subdistrict, because it was close to the coast that would make it easy for marketing the product.

In that location, the regional government of Banten is also planning to construct supporting international standard facilities.

"Refinery process needs a lot of water. Therefore, Bojonegara is selected to be the main site of the plant. We have carried out pre-feasibility studies on the possibilities of Bojonegara to be selected," the ambassador said.

He said that the feasibility studies were conducted very carefully and maturely because a site for such a plant needed extensive land.

The project will benefit Banten as it would absorb thousands of workers, he said.

If operations, the plant would produce some 20,000 barrels of oil per day. "This would meet a quarter of Indonesia`s need for oil," he added.