Celanese, Pertamina to partner on synthetic ethanol projects in Indonesia

Jul 19, 2012 - US chemicals firm Celanese Corp (NYSE:CE) said Thursday it would cooperate with Indonesia's energy company Pertamina on the development of synthetic fuel ethanol projects in the Asian country using Celanese's proprietary TCX ethanol process technology.

Under the joint statement of cooperation that the partners have signed, they will work to identify potential supply arrangements, production locations and distribution strategies. After that the management of the two companies will need to make final investment decisions and secure all needed approvals so as to kick off production in some 30 months.

The projects to be undertaken by Celanese and Pertamina will support Indonesia's long-term strategy to utilise its abundant resources, to speed up economic development, cut imported energy requirements and enhance the environmental and air quality standards.

Indonesia's transportation fuel consumption for 2012 is estimated at around 25 million tonnes. According to forecasts it is to grow by 6% a year till the end of the decade. Celanese said that a 10% blend of high-octane ethanol by 2020 could require the construction of as many as four world-scale TCX Technology production units. These, in turn, can cut Pertamina's gasoline import requirements by over 30 million barrels annually, the US firm said.

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