Balikpapan offshore oil rig explodes

Balikpapan offshore oil rig explodes

BALIKPAPAN, East Kalimantan (JP): An off-shore oil rig owned
by Unocal Indonesia Co. exploded here after a fire razed it at
dawn on Sunday, but no fatalities were reported.

The company's general manager, Muchlis Sadzali, said gas
leaking from a neighboring old oil-well had caused the explosion.

He said the well, which had been bored to 400 meters below sea
level, might have contained more oil reserves than expected.

"Gas leaks are a natural cause of fires in off-shore oil
exploration. It's a force majeur," he said.

The cost to the company, a contractor of the state-owned oil
firm Pertamina, of losing the rig was estimated at between Rp 18
billion (US$6.6 million) and $42 billion, according to Muchlis.

He said the oil rig had so far drilled Rp 500 million worth of
oil.

Company workers overlaid the leaking well with mud to stop the
fire.

The company temporarily ceased oil exploration and evacuated
all workers and tankers from the remnants of the rig, according
to Muchlis.

A Pertamina official confirmed the accident yesterday. She
said none of the 20 people working at site were hurt.

"They were evacuated when the fire gutted the oil rig," she
said on condition of anonymity.

She said the accident would not pollute of the sea due to an
the presence of an in-built antipollution device.

Pertamina is expected to explain the accident today, she said.
(42/jsk)