Process Units at Pertamina's Balongan Refinery in Indonesia Not Affected by Fire

A large fire and explosion lit up the early morning skies of Indonesia's West Java, the site of one of the country's largest oil refineries, Pertamina's Balongan Refinery, located 140 miles east of Jakarta.

While the exact cause is still unknown, the incident occurred during a heavy thunderstorm and lightning that mainly hit the refinery's tanks, and not the processing units, injuring at least 15 local residents. The company has issued a statement saying that the plant has been shut down to avert further damage, and it hopes to restore operations within five days, although actual repairs could take months to finish.

Major units involved include the lone CDU, 83,000-BBL/d FCCU (RCCU), 27,500-BBL/d Reformer, and 23,000-BBL/d Isomerization units.