PLUMPANG FUEL OIL DEPOT BACK IN OPERATION AFTER FIRE

Jakarta, Jan. 19 (ANTARA) - A state oil company PT Pertamina official said the company's Plumpang fuel depot in North Jakarta is back in operation at noon on Monday (Jan 19) after undergoing repairs to damage caused by a fire the night before.

Pertamina Deputy Director Iin Arifin Takhyan said here, on Monday morning work was still going to make sure that the fire had been completely extinguished but this job was expected to be completed by noon.

"We will resume operations at Plumpang this noon," he said.

The depot was closed following a fire that broke out Sunday night and destroyed a premium gasoline storage tank. The fire was put out on Monday morning at around 7 am local time.

Plumpang depot is a fuel oil distribution center for the greater Jakarta Jakarta region which consumed 9,420 kiloliters of premium gasoline and 4,677 kiloliters of diesel oil per day.

Takhyan said the fire had damaged a storage tank with a capacity of 100,000 kiloliters of premium gasoline but when the fire struck it contained only only 1,500 kiloliters.

With premium gasoline currently sold to the public at Rp5,000 per liter, Pertamina had lost Rp7.5 billion by the fire, he said.

Meanwhile, a Pertamina spokesman gave the assurance that fuel supplies for Jakarta had not been affected because during the Pumpang depot's closure, Jakarta was supplied with fuel oils from Pertamina's fuel depots in Cikampek, Merak, and Padalarang.

The police in cooperation with Pertamina are still investigating the cause of the fire.