By Fransiska Nangoy
NUSA DUA, Indonesia, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Indonesia is lookinginto converting two of the country's older crude oil refineriesinto plants for producing biofuels, a cabinet minister said onTuesday.
The government is conducting a study with Italian energycompany ENI, which has successfully converted one ofits refineries to the production of biofuels, Rini Soemarno, theminister overseeing state-controlled companies, told reporterson the sidelines of the IMF-World Bank annual meetings in Bali.
The move is part of a drive to reduce energy imports as thegovernment tries to narrow the country's current account gapamid emerging market volatility that has dragged the rupiahcurrency to its weakest in over 20 years.
ENI is conducting a study on state energy companyPertamina's Plaju and Dumai refineries, which werebuilt around the 1930s, according to Soemarno.
"We have been planning to modernise those refineries, but wefound out that they could be turned (into biofuel plants) - mostlikely these two will be converted," Soemarno said.
According to Pertamina's website, the Plaju plant has an oilrefining capacity of 133,700 barrels per day (bpd), with Dumaiat 170,000 bpd.
Indonesia's biodiesel drive also aims to absorb thecountry's rising crude palm oil output amid sluggish globaldemand. Indonesia is the world's top producer of the commodity.
Starting in September, Indonesia enforced a mandatory use ofB20 fuel, which has 20 percent bio-content mix, for all dieselmachines in the country, including train locomotives and heavyequipment.
Government officials have estimated the nation could savebillion of dollars in energy imports per year through the B20programme.(Reporting by Fransiska NangoyEditing by Joseph Radford)
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