Pertamina halts refinery ops in Papua after fire

State oil and gas company PT. Pertamina was forced to shut its 10,000 barrels per day Kasim refinery in Sorong, Papua since Sunday after some part of the refinery was gutted by fire, a Pertamina official said.

Spokesperson M. Harun in a release said that the fire was triggered by problems at crude distillation unit. Investigation is underway, said Harun. He did not say, however, when the refinery would get back into normal operations.

Harun said that fuel supply for Papua area would not be very much affected at substitute fuel would be supplied from Maluku.

Pertamina operates refineries throughout Indonesia with capacity of 1.05 million barrels per day. (godang)