Security raised at energy companies after Bali attack

Febiola Desy Unidjaja and Adianto P. Simamora The Jakarta Post Jakarta

Energy companies across the nation have raised alertness following the weekend bomb blasts on the island of Bali, as the government warned Monday of possible terrorist attacks against their facilities.

Thus far, operations at the country's oil and gas fields remain normal.

Fears over possible attacks have also spread to the industrial island of Batam, which is home to more than 500 manufacturing investors from across the globe. The island's authority urged investors to increase security.

"Following the Bali tragedy, our attention has been focused on security. We have intensified our security," said Yudiana, vice president of American energy firm PT Caltex Pacific Indonesia.

The company, which is a subsidiary of American energy giant ChevronTexaco, operates hundreds of oil wells in Riau province with an output of about 700,000 barrels of oil per day, or more than half of the country's oil output.

None of the company's foreign workers had left Indonesia following the Bali bomb attacks, he said.

"But we have urged them and their families to raise alertness," he said.

No special security had been given to foreign workers as all of them work together with local colleagues in the same camps, he said.

Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Monday that the government had decided to deploy the Indonesian Military (TNI) to help guard the country's vital energy installations against possible terrorist attacks.

"TNI will increase surveillance at strategic and vital installations, as there are indications that energy installations are the next target of terrorist attacks," Susilo told a press conference after a Cabinet meeting.

He said the Paiton power plant complex in East Java, the Bontang LNG plant in East Kalimantan; the Arun LNG plant in Aceh; and the oil facilities owned by CPI in Riau, were among the vital energy installations that would receive special attention.

The Paiton power complex is home to a power plant belonging to a U.S. Mission Energy-led consortium, while the Arun LNG plant is partly owned by American energy giant ExxonMobil and the Arun LNG plant is owned by a consortium comprising American firm Unocal Corp, French firm TotalFinaElf and American firm Vico, which is controlled by Anglo-American energy giant BP PLC.

On Batam, the Batam Industrial Development Authority (BIDA) has urged manufacturers on the island to boost security to guard their companies.

"Following the Bali attack, BIDA and the local police have held a special meeting to discuss security. We have asked all foreign and domestic investors to raise alertness," BIDA chairman Ismeth Abdullah told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

Thus far, everything is running as usual, he said.

Batam, located in the Riau archipelago, about 20 kilometers south of Singapore, is home to more than 560 foreign manufacturing plants from 34 countries.