Indonesia: Accident Major Fire Erupts at Pertamina’s Balongan Oil Refinery

A massive fire occurred at Pertamina’s Balongan oil refinery located 225 kilometers east of Jakarta in Indonesia. Five people have been seriously injured while several others are reportedly missing, the cause of the fire is still under investigation.

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Jakarta/Indonesia – On March 29, a huge fire broke out at Pertamina’s Balongan oil refinery in Indonesia. The incident at one of the country’s largest refineries occurred after midnight at 12:45 AM local time and efforts are still being made to curtail the fire, according to the last update on the event. A huge explosion was also heard at the state-run refinery.

Five people have been seriously injured, 15 have suffered minor injuries while several others are missing, state news reports. As many as 912 people were evacuated from the nearby village in the area.

The police suspect that the explosion was triggered by lightning as the region was experiencing bad weather when the fire broke out, however, the cause is yet to be ascertained, mention reports.

Nicke Widyawati, chief executive, Pertamina informed the media that the accident occurred in the refinery's storage tanks and had no impact on the processing plant. She further stated that only four out of the plant's 72 storage tanks were impacted and that the supply of fuel in the region will not be disturbed.

The oil and gas major expects the refinery which has a refining capacity of about 125,000 barrels of crude oil a day to be operational in 4-5 days once the fire is extinguished.

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