File picture of the pertamina oil refinery at Balikpapan. - Starpic
JAKARTA (Reuters): Indonesia's state energy firm Pertamina on Monday (May 16) said it would take a week to repair a unit at its Balikpapan refinery in East Kalimantan province after a fire broke out a day earlier, killing one contractor and injuring five others.
Pertamina said fuel supply would not be disrupted as the refinery should still have enough stocks for the Balikpapan fuel terminal, adding that it has also prepared a scenario to reroute components from another facility to ensure supply.
The fire was put out at 11:31am local time (1931 GMT) on Sunday, around an hour after it broke out at Plant 5 in the hydro-skimming complex unit at the refinery, the company said.
"The repair of Plant 5 is scheduled to be completed in the next seven days, and we will ensure that fuel production can continue to run safely," Ely Chandra, Pertamina's communication manager for the Balikpapan refinery, said in a statement.
The refinery has a capacity of 260,000 barrel per day.
Pertamina has had several fires at some of its refineries in the past few years, including a smaller blaze at the Balikpapan plant in March.
A fire also broke out at a fuel storage unit in Pertamina's refinery complex in Cilacap, Central Java, in November.
