Balongan, Cilacap 'prone to oil smuggling'

Leony Aurora and Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

As the investigation into the smuggling of crude and refined oil products continues, state oil and gas firm PT Pertamina says refineries in Balongan, West Java, and Cilacap, Central Java, are also vulnerable to smuggling.

The two oil refineries have similar storage facilities to those in Lawe Lawe, East Kalimantan, where a major smuggling ring was uncovered last week, Pertamina president director Widya Purnama said on Monday.

"The model (of oil input) is similar," he said. He declined to name other areas where smuggling might have taken place.

In Lawe Lawe, the storage facilities are connected to tankers by pipelines, which run seven kilometers onshore and 10 kilometers underwater.

Tankers have to use floating hoses to connect with a single buoy mooring, which channel oil through subsea hoses to the pipelines.

Pertamina's director of processing, Suroso Atmomartoyo, said that after tankers send oil to storage, the pipelines are flushed to clean out any remaining crude. "(The smugglers) can steal through this system," he said.

The suspects in the Lawe Lawe smuggling admitted to have conducted the illegal activity five times, stealing between 12,000 barrels and 13,000 barrels at a time, he said.

Widya said Pertamina had fired 40 crew members of four tug boats, whose job was to guide tankers and connect them to the buoy. "It is impossible that they were not involved in the scheme."

Pertamina has fired 12 other low-ranking employees in connection with the smuggling in Lawe Lawe.

Widya said Pertamina, the National Police, the Navy and the Ministry of Finance's Directorate General of Customs and Excise would sign a joint agreement to form a special task force to deal with smuggling.

Separately, the National Police will work with Pertamina to oversee imported oil distribution in the future.

"Starting from now, we will inform the police whenever we want to import crude oil. We will also give detailed information such as the name of the ships, the crews and the schedule so that they (police) can keep a close eye on them," said Widya following a meeting at National Police Headquarters.

The National Police's chief of detectives, Comr. Gen. Makbul Padmanegara, who also attended the meeting, said the police would not only help supervise oil delivery at sea but also land distribution, though this initially will be limited to Tangerang municipality and regency.

"We are planning a pilot project in Tangerang. The aim of the project is to supervise distribution from there to small agents," Makbul said.

Widya promised there would be no cover-ups surrounding the smuggling.

"I think we will dismiss a lot of Pertamina officials soon and we already have suspended Pertamina's head of the Batam terminal," he said.

Makbul confirmed the head of the Batam terminal, Nono Asmanu, had been declared a suspect in a smuggling case recently uncovered in the area.

"Based on our preliminary investigation, we found a lot of evidence indicating that he might be responsible for the smuggling," he said.

The latest incident in Batam occurred last month when the Jaya Success tanker transferred some 120 tons of diesel fuel to the Aiwa Maru tanker, flying a Honduras flag, in the waters off Batam.