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Energy Minister Darwin Zahedy Saleh urged law enforcement agencies on Sunday to investigate a fire at a Pertamina refinery in Central Java over the weekend.

“Investigate it thoroughly and take stern measures against those responsible for it in accordance with the law,” he said.

The blaze broke out at around 4 a.m. on Saturday after a tank at the state oil and gas company’s Cilacap refinery exploded, according to reports. Darwin said operations were expected to return to normal within five days.

Mochamad Harun, a spokesman for Pertamina, said three tanks containing around 10,000 kiloliters of high-octane mogas component, an additive used to make Premium fuel, and the highly flammable organic compound naphthalene caught fire in Unit IV of the facility.

“The fire on two of the tanks has been [extinguished] and we’re spraying them with water to cool them down. We’re still fighting the fire on a third tank,” he said on Sunday afternoon.

Cilacap Police Chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Rudi Darmoko said nine witnesses had been summoned in relation to the incident.

“However, we are just collecting information on the fire. This is not a questioning session for investigation purposes,” he said.

The police chief said the witnesses were all Cilacap residents who saw the blaze break out on Saturday morning, adding that Pertamina employees would be questioned after the refinery crisis was under control.

“Let Pertamina focus on efforts to put the fire out first,” Rudi said on Sunday.

Pertamina has seen several fires break out in its facilities since 2008, including one in the Cilacap refinery that year that claimed the lives of three men who had been performing maintenance on a fuel pipe.

Kurtubi, an independent oil and mining analyst, said the recurring hazards demonstrated the company’s failure to improve safety rules and standard operating procedures.

He also criticized Pertamina’s delayed response to Saturday’s blaze in Cilacap.

“They should have sprayed the fire with foam immediately. They did that only after the fire started spreading, and it was too late because it was out of control by then,” he said. “The fact that they brought in extra foam to extinguish the fire showed the lack of safety capacity in the refinery.”

Pertamina had asked for 42 tons of foam to be used to extinguish the fire on Saturday.

On Sunday, Pertamina said another 80 tons of fire-fighting foam had been brought in from Jakarta, including from Chevron and BP.

Hatta Rajasa, the coordinating minister for economic affairs, said six military helicopters were deployed to Cilacap to help fight the blaze, but Darwin later said they were of little use due to the size and intensity of the inferno.

Harun insisted that the state company followed standard procedures in its response to the fire.

“We deployed 80 firemen, foam cannons and cooled down surrounding tanks with water, but the strong wind and the volatile nature of the substances made it hard for us to control the situation,” he said.

“Once the fire is out, Pertamina will carry out its own forensic investigation to determine the cost and cause of the fire,” the spokesman added.

To extinguish the blaze, Kurtubi said, “Pertamina will just have to wait until the flammable materials run out.”

The analyst speculated that the fire could be caused by human error, company negligence, outdated facilities, a terrorist act or even sabotage intended to delay the government’s controversial plans to impose a quota on subsidized fuel.

“Of course, it all comes down to the police investigation to determine the cause,” he said.

 

Additional reporting from Antara