Unit Operations That Are Not Affected By The Pertamina Balikpapan Refinery Fire Are Normal, Residents Are Asked To Stay Calm

The condition of the Pertamina Refinery Balikpapan Unit in Balikpapan City, East Kalimantan Province, which caught fire and was successfully extinguished at around 07:30 WITA (ANTARA/Muhammad Solih Januar)

BALIKPAPAN - PT Pertamina (Persero) conducted monitoring to ensure residents around the refinery were not affected by the fire incident that destroyed the Crude Disttillation Unit (CDU) VI of the Pertamina International Refinery (KPI) Balikpapan Unit located on Jalan Yos Sudarso, Balikpapan City, East Kalimantan.

"PT KPI Balikpapan Unit cooperates with a number of parties so that the community remains conducive, one of which is also coordinating with the Disaster Preparedness Village (KSB) Partners in the Kampung Atas Air area of Margasari Village and Baru Tengah Village," said General Manager of PT KPI Balikpapan Unit Bayu Arafat.

"We are collaborating with KSB who helped monitor the condition of residents in the ring of one company to remain calm," he said as quoted by ANTARA, Saturday, May 25.

The public is expected not to panic and remain calm because the fire has been controlled and the fire has been extinguished, he continued, and has been successfully localized through intensive and defensive handling. "The location of the incident is still in the refinery area, so it does not have a direct impact on the community," he said.

Currently, refinery operations in affected units are temporarily suspended to ensure security in locations and surrounding areas, while other units remain operating normally.

The fire incident that devoured CDU VI of PT KPI Balikpapan Unit occurred on Saturday at around 04:25 WITA, and the KPI fire team managed to extinguish the fire at around 07:30 WITA.

PT KPI Balikpapan Unit continues to ensure that the refinery is in a safe condition, and the fire incident does not cause disruption to the provision of fuel oil (BBM) to the community.