The Result Of Exploded Balongan Refinery, 400 Thousand Barrels Of Pertamina Fuel 'Evaporate'

Burning of Pertamina Refinery in Balongan, Indramayu, West Java. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - PT. Pertamina (Persero) stated that the potential loss of production of fuel oil (BBM) was around 400 thousand barrels due to the burning of the T-301G tanks at the Balongan Refinery, Indramayu, on March 29, early morning.

Pertamina's Logistics and Infrastructure Director Mulyono said the burning tank caused the company to shut down the refinery operations, which currently produce fuel with a capacity of 125 thousand barrels per day (BPH).

Furthermore, Pertamina also estimates that the effort to normalize the Balongan Refinery will take quite a long time, namely four to five days.

"The estimated production loss that cannot be supplied from the Balongan Refinery is 400 thousand barrels," he said in a virtual press conference, Monday, March 29.

To temporarily replace the role of the Balongan Refinery, said Mulyono, the supply of fuel would be supplied from the Cilacap Refinery and the Trans-Pacific Petrochemical Indotama (TPPI) Refinery.

According to Mulyono, the Cilacap refinery could increase its production to 300 thousand barrels and TPPI's production could be increased by 500 thousand barrels.

"From Cilacap it will be brought by ship supplied directly from Tanjung Priok. Meanwhile, from the TPPI, it will be supplied via the Balongan BBM Terminal," he said.

Mulyono guaranteed that the current national fuel stock was very safe, despite the incident at the Balongan Refinery. This means that Pertamina's fuel stock can still meet people's needs.

Furthermore, Mulyono explained that gasoline stocks were recorded at 10.5 million barrels and it is estimated that they will be sufficient for the next 27 to 28 days.

"So there is no problem for gasoline because the demand is 390 Mb or 62.5 thousand kiloliters," he said.

Meanwhile, he said, there are 8.8 million barrels of diesel stock available or enough for the next 20 days. Meanwhile, Avtur is still available 3.2 million barrels or enough for 74 days of consumption.

"So once again, there is no need to panic. The stock is very much. Very overflowing. This is because conditions are not yet normal, so there is not much consumption," he said.

Mulyono said the Balongan refinery has been serving Balongan, Cikampek and Plumpang. Meanwhile, Plumpang is supplied by pipeline, so the stock is not high because it can be pumped from the Balongan fuel terminal at any time.

For Plumpang, the gasoline stock is sufficient for the next 12 to 13 days and diesel for the next 13 days. Meanwhile, Cikampek has enough gasoline stock for 13 days and diesel for 10 days.

Meanwhile, said Mulyono, for Balongan, gasoline stocks are also sufficient. Even enough for more than 10 days and diesel enough for over 20 days.