Gas fire at Blora gas field, Central Java still continues

The fire which hits gas wells at the Blora gas field in Central still continues but state owned oil and gas company Pertamina said it is optimistic that the fire could be extinguished at least within a week from now, Bisnis Indonesia reported on Tuesday.

Iin Arifin Takhyan, the director for Pertamina?s upstream operation, said in Jakarta on Monday that all the equipment needed to extinguish the fire had been taken to the fire location. "We are optimistic that the fire could be extinguish at least until March 20," he was quoted as saying.

The fire which has hit the gas field since February 25 is still going on although the state owned oil and gas company has made several efforts to put out the fire. Although the flame still stays high above 60 meters, no more poisonous gas come from the burned gas wells.

According to sources at Pertamina, the potential loss caused by the fire has reached at least Rp 150 billion. The estimated loss does not include the compensation Pertamina should pay to owners of properties affected by the fire.

Pertamina said it has to take fire equipment from Prabumulih, South Sumatra to extinguish the Blora fire. In addition, the state oil and gas company has also sought help from fire experts from Singapore and Canada to put out the fire. (*)