Tiaka field in Central Sulawesi resumes operation

Production facility at Tiaka Field, Tomori Block, in Luwuk, Central Sulawesi, which is operated by JOB Pertamina-Medco Tomori, had resumed operation on Sunday. Operation on the facility was halted on Saturday after local people staged protests.

?Total production loss is estimated to reach 2,000 barrels of oil,? said Gde Pradnyana, Deputy Head for Public Affairs, Security and Formality of the upstream oil and gas regulator BPMIGAS.

He said that the demonstration which turned ugly began at 09.40 local time on Saturday. Around 30 protesters came to the facility with wooden boat and damaged some facilities. This forced the operator to halt the operation on six wells and evacuated workers, which is in line with standard operating procedure on an oil field.

Police and military personnels have been mobilized on site to guard the production facility. However, a hospital ship which was brought away by the protesters has not been found. Gde hopes the situation will soon resume to normal and the ship can be found. (godang)