Massive Blast Occurs at Indonesia's West Java Oil Refinery

Currently, a road blockade to the vicinity of the incident is being carried out, assisted by the Indonesian Military. Pertamina is also carrying out a shutdown to control oil flows and prevent the expansion of fires.

Also read: Indonesias Energy Firm PT Pertamina Posts Net Loss of $767.9M in H1 2020

The Balongan Refinery is one of Indonesia's largest refineries and also one of its most crucial, as it feeds fuel and petrochemicals to the greater Jakarta area. It recently increased its production capacity from 125 MBSD to 150 MBSD.

The fire was focused on the refinery tanks, with no damage to the processing plant, said Reuters citing Pertamina Chief Executive Officer Nicke Widyawati. With this incident, Pertamina ensures that the fuel supply will not be disrupted as they have procedures for handling fuel supply in an emergency.

The operations could hopefully return to normal in the next five days.

(Writer: Mohamad Umar Alwi | Editor: Abba Gabrillin, Farid Assifa)

Sources: Kompas.com