Pertamina to spend almost $2 billion on improving safety
11 April 2023
PT Pertamina, Indonesia’s state oil company, has announced plans to spend almost $2 billion (£1.6bn) on improving safety at its facilities between now and 2026. The announcement came as company executives continue to face questions following a series of incidents in recent weeks at facilities operated by Pertamina.
Image: Wikimedia/User: NaidNdeso
On March 31, an explosion at a refinery owned by a unit of Pertamina in western Indonesia injured nine people. The blast came just weeks after two incidents in March where a fire at a Pertamina fuel terminal in Jakarta killed over 30 people and a fire on a Pertamina operated tanker killed three.
Following the latest incident, a parliamentary committee called for a “total audit” of Pertamina assests. During a committee hearing, Pertamina executives said the company had in fact started an audit of its facilities in 2021 and that it has began implementing improvements to safety ever since.
At the same committee hearing, the Chief Executive of a Pertamina subsidiary said the company was spending almost $1 billion a year to address safety issues discovered during its audits. The company says that almost $2 billion is due to be spent on improving safety and improving reliability at facilities in the period up to 2026.
Repairs are still being made to the refinery impacted by the March 31 explosion. An investigation into the incident is continuing however operations are expected to resume fully by April 15.
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