Pertamina guarantees adequate oil supply in E. Indonesia

State owned oil and gas company Pertamina has ensured that the damage in one of its refinery unit in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan will not affect fuel supply in the province and other areas in eastern parts of Indonesia.

The production unit of the oil and gas company in Balikpapan said on Tuesday that it had sufficient stocks to meet the fuel supply in eastern parts of the country despite the damage.

"I assure the people in Balikpapan and other places in eastern Indonesia that the damage in one of the Balikpapan oil refinery plant will not affect the fuel supply," WWF Welan, the spokesman for the local operation of the state owned oil and gas company.

He said that the refinery pant, which stopped operation following an explosion in one of its processing units, resumed operation on Tuesday. Although the explosion would cause a decline in the fuel production by 20,000 barrels per day, the production from other refinery units would be sufficient enough to meet the demand, he added.

The Balikpapan refinery plant, which operates two refinery plants, is responsible to provide fuel supply in eastern parts of Indonesia.

Separately Pertamina reported that the fuel supply from its Balongan refinery plant in West Java had been transmitted to the Pelumpang fuel depot in Jakarta through the existing pipeline network.

The supply of the fuel from the plant through the pipeline had been stopped following the damage in the plant's processing units recently. (*)