State-owned oil and gas company Pertamina is taking measures to handle the impact of a gas leakage that began on July 12 in the PT Pertamina Hulu Energi Offshore North West Java (PHE ONWJ) area, 2 kilometers north of Karawang, West Java.

Pertamina corporate communication vice president Fajriyah Usman said the mitigation team involved credible, competent and experienced resources like those from Boot & Coots, a United States-based private company that had experience in handling similar cases in the Gulf of Mexico.

She said Pertamina Group, through PHE ONWJ’s emergency response team, had taken measures to prevent further environmental damage.

Pertamina and PHE ONWJ are also cooperating with the Navy, which deployed seven patrol units to prevent fishing in the area.

“The first priority is to ensure the safety of the team and the public, and to also ease the environmental impact around the [affected] area,” Fajriyah said in a statement on Monday.

She said Pertamina and PHE ONWJ had also continued to communicate intensively with other parties, such as the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, the Environment and Forestry Ministry and the Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Special Task Force (SKK Migas).

“Pertamina would like to say thank you for the support from all parties, including the government, the public and oil and gas industry community,” she said.

Pertamina removed workers from the gas drilling platform while isolating affected areas with patrol units to prevent fisherfolk and locals from entering the area.

“Pertamina continues to oversee the development and take action to protect the environment,” Fajriyah added. (Awa/bbn)