Students and teachers fall sick due to gas from PetroChina-Pertamina well
Thursday, December 4 2008 - 01:46 AM WIB
The incident occurred on Wednesday morning when the session just started, according to Okezone website.
School principal Sulistiyowati said no explosion was heard before the incident. The teachers and students suddenly smelt something like luquified petroleum gas (LPG)and started feeling dizzy, vomitted and lost consciousness. All of them were immediately carried to nearby hospital.
PT PetroChina East Java's public relation officer Ridwan said the company would cover all the medication costs of the students and teachers.
He confirmed the gas came from the firm's well but insisted it is not dangerous to health because it is not C02. The firm is conducting drilling in a location 200 meters from the village's residential area.
The well is part of the Tuban block which has been producing oil since 1998. Currently the block is producing oil from its two main fields; Sukowati (26,000 BPOD) and Mudi (3,300 BPOD). The block is expected to produce 40,000 BPOD in 2009. (*)