Pertamina has shut down the plant to control the flow of oil and prevent the fire from spreading further through the refinery, the company’s fifth largest with an output capacity of 125,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd).

The fire broke out at gasoline storage tank T301G at around 12:45 a.m. on Monday, and then rapidly spread to two nearby tanks. The main refinery was unaffected, however, Pertamina officials noted through a broad media outreach campaign.

The fire has affected the five nearby villages of Balongan, Sukareja, Rawadalem, Sukaurip and Tegalurung, according to the Indramayu emergency response team. First responders, Pertamina, the National Police and the Indonesian Military in the region have set up emergency tents and are evacuating affected residents and workers.

Read also: Five injured, hundreds evacuated after massive blaze at West Java oil refinery

“We are waiting for the fire to be extinguished. Maybe we can bring things back to normal in four to five days,” Pertamina logistics, supply chain and infrastructure director Mulyono told a press conference on Monday morning.

The oil giant also made assurances that the shutdown would not disrupt fuel distribution. The Balongan refinery, located around 200 kilometers from Jakarta, supplies fuel primarily to the Indonesian capital and parts of West Java.

Mulyono said Pertamina would source fuel in the coming days from its Cilacap and Trans Pacific Petrochemical Indotama (TPPI) refineries, both located in Central Java. Its oil terminals (TBBM) also had standby stock to meet short-term demands, he added.

He said the Cilacap refinery could produce up to 300,000 bpd and ship the oil to Plumpang TBBM in North Jakarta for distributing in the capital. The TPPI facility could produce up to 500,000 bpd and send it to the Balongan TBBM for distribution to other regencies and towns in West Java, such as Cikampek.

A 26 second video shared by BPNB shows residents evacuating a housing area near Pertamina's Balongan refinery in Indramayu, West Java, in the very early hours of Monday. “Pertamina’s [refinery] exploded twice. The fire is getting taller and getting closer,” said the man recording the video. (BNPB/Handout)

“So, once again, there is no need to panic. We still have [abundant] stock,” Pertamina president director Nicke Widyawati told Monday’s press conference.

“Because conditions are not normal yet, consumption is still limited,” she added, referring to the government’s COVID-19 micro-scale public activity restrictions (PPKM Mikro) that had maintained domestic fuel demand at levels lower than in 2019.

This is not the first time the Balongan refinery has caught fire. A fire in October 2007 disrupted a waste disposal facility at the refinery, and another fire broke out at a gas pipeline facility at the plant in February 2019.

Read also: Fire razes Pertamina EP facility, but Balongan refinery safe

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) said that 912 people had been evacuated to the Indramayu regent’s office, the Indramayu Islamic center and a local sports hall.

“The fire is still in the process of being extinguished and residents are expected not to panic and always follow the authorities’ directions,” BNPB spokesman Raditya Jati said in a statement.

West Java Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Erdi Adrimulan Chaniago said 28 people had been injured in the fire, of whom 23 had minor injuries and five had serious injuries, while three people had been reported missing. The victims were either local residents or people who were in the vicinity when the fire erupted.

Meanwhile, West Java Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) manager Budi Budiman Wahyu said the agency recorded 19 victims, 14 with minor injuries and five with serious injuries. It also recorded that an over 60-year-old man had been killed in the incident, local media outlets reported.

Oil refinery unit VI in Balongan, Indramayu, West Java, operated by state oil and gas company Pertamina, is seen at night on Nov. 12, 2017. (JP/Jerry Adiguna)

Erdi of the West Java Police said that initial suspicions pointed to a leak or a lightning strike as the cause of the fire, as it had been raining heavily at the time of the incident. He said police would start on-site investigations as soon as the fire was under control.

State-owned electricity company PLN said in a statement that the fire had knocked out 10 electricity substations, cutting power to 1,078 customers in Indramayu. Of this figure, power had been restored to just 60 customers.

PLN has sent 17 employees to restore local power, but were having difficulty accessing the area due to a security cordon restricting entry within a radius of 3 kilometers around the refinery.

West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil uploaded an Instagram post, saying he had ordered authorities to speed up evacuation “and move the residents to a safe place” while complying with the COVID-19 health protocols.

Meanwhile, officials from the State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Ministry and the Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Ministry, which oversee Pertamina’s operations, say they are actively monitoring the situation.

“We are ensuring that production and supply is enough to meet the fuel demand, investigating the cause of the fire alongside the police, and ensuring safety in the area [around] the refinery and in neighboring facilities,” said Deputy SOEs Minister Pahala N. Mansury.

-- Budi Sutrisno contributed to this story.