Cilacap refinery resumes operations
Cilacap refinery resumes operations
JAKARTA (JP): The refinery of state oil company Pertamina in Cilacap, Central Java, which was shut down two weeks ago after a fire, will resume production today at 75 percent of capacity, Pertamina announced yesterday.
"Production will be increased to 85 percent of the refinery's capacity next May and to its full capacity by March 1997," said Pertamina's Director of Processing G.J. Atihuta, after announcing the resumption of production.
Atihuta said that lightning struck one of Pertamina's 156 storage tanks at the Cilacap refinery on Oct. 24, starting the fire which destroyed seven of the tanks.
Seven replacement tanks will be completed by March 1997, he said.
"PT Chicago Bridge Indonesia, which built all the tanks at the refinery in the 1970s and 1980s, will construct the seven tanks," he added.
Atihuta said the fire caused total losses of about Rp 75 billion (US$33.3 million). He said the losses were covered by the state-owned insurance company PT Tugu Pratama Indonesia.
The oil products consumed in the fire consisted of 32,000 kiloliters (kl) of jet fuel, 19,372 kl of kerosene and 4,378 kl of naphtha. The refinery's total storage capacity prior to the blaze was 28 million barrels.
The Cilacap refinery, which has two production units with a total refining capacity of 300,000 barrels per day, is Pertamina's biggest refinery.
Pertamina currently has nine refineries with a combined refining capacity of 985,000 barrels per day.
Atihuta said Pertamina will import oil products to offset the drop in the Cilacap refinery's output.
He refused to disclose the volume of the planned imports but Reuters reported last week that Pertamina bought 1.6 million barrels of jet fuel and 2.2 million barrels of diesel oil for delivery in November.
Indonesia is projected to consume 45 million kl of fuel oil this, equal to the country's annual production capacity.
Atihuta said that Indonesia still needs more refineries to meet domestic demand for oil fuel, which increases by 6 percent each year.
The fire was followed by rumors of sabotage, according to which the blaze was caused by gunshots and two people have been arrested by the police in relation to the shots.
Atihuta denied such rumors yesterday, reiterating that the fire was caused by lightning and adding that a lightning research institution had confirmed this.
He said the Central Java military command has denied having arrested anybody in relation to the fire.
Atihuta said Pertamina has decided to provide local residents with compensation for any losses caused by the fire.
He said losses to the local residents stemming from the fire, including damage to houses and water wells, are estimated to come to Rp 70 million. (04)