Indonesia pipeline explosion linked to Volcanic mud flow
Pastor Dale Morgan
Thursday November 23, 3:15 PM Reuters
*Indonesia pipeline explosion linked to Volcanic mud flow*
By Heri Retnowati
SIDOARJO, Indonesia (Reuters) - An Indonesian gas pipeline explosion
that killed at least seven people was related to a massive volcanic mud
flow from underground which authorities have struggled for months to
plug, an official said on Thursday.
The late Wednesday explosion -- which disrupted gas operations in the
area -- occurred near the city of Surabaya on Java island in a part of
the state-owned Pertamina East Java Gas Pipeline.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told reporters the
cabinet's energy minister had gone to the scene and the government
"would take steps needed to ensure that the situation would not
deteriorate further".
The incident happened in the area where hot mud has been gushing from
near the Banjar Panji exploratory gas well since the end of May
following a drilling accident, inundating several villages and causing
an environmental disaster.
"The soil layer in the centre of the Banjar Panji well, from where the
hot mud constantly flows, subsided and then it curved. Thus it pressed
the 28-inch pipes which broke and the gas escaped into the air," Basuki
Hadimulyono, head of the national team to tackle the mud flow, told Reuters.
"The constant hot mud flow that started on May 29 made the soil subside."
The well is operated by Indonesia's Lapindo Brantas, a unit of PT Energi
Mega Persada, partly owned by the Bakrie Group, which is controlled by
the family of Indonesia's chief social welfare minister, Aburizal Bakrie.
The firm has denied the mud is directly linked to the drilling operation.
Bakrie has said he is not involved in group activities since becoming a
government minister, and has endorsed the government view that Lapindo
should be held responsible for the problems caused by the mud.
A Pertamina official said the cause of Wednesday's accident was not known.
"We don't know exactly why the gas pipe exploded but the effect of the
blast stopped gas distribution for Surabaya and Gersik," said Sukadi,
Pertamina's gas transmission chief for East Java distribution.
CRACKED PIPES
Win Hendrarso, chief of Sidoarjo regency near Surabaya, said dozens of
people had been reported missing after Wednesday's explosion. Eleven
people were injured.
"So far, there are seven bodies that we have been able to get to up
until the early hours of Thursday. One of them cannot be identified
after being burned beyond recognition," said Hadimulyono.
Officials said most of those killed by the accident, which occurred at
around 7:30 p.m. (1230 GMT), were military and other government
personnel involved in trying to secure the mud flow.
Retno Rudi Novrianto, another official from the mud team, said it was
likely the pipes cracked: "Since the gas pipes are high pressure ones,
it produced a big blast."
More than 10,000 people have so far been displaced by the mud, gushing
at a rate of 50,000 cubic metres (1.75 million cubic feet) a day from
the well.
Experts say the mud leak could have been triggered by a crack about
6,000 feet (1,800 metres) deep inside an exploratory well drilling
operation near Surabaya.
A Pertamina official said it would not have to import more diesel oil
after a request from the state power firm for the fuel for use at power
stations to make up for the lost gas.
Australian oil and gas firm Santos Ltd. said on Thursday that the Maleo
gas project, in which Santos has a 67.5 percent stake, shut in
production after the explosion.
Maleo gas, along with gas from other fields in the area, is delivered
into the East Java pipeline.
Santos' spokesman Christian Bennett said it was too early to determine
the expected duration of the outage.
But the news sent Santos' shares down as much as 3.3 percent to a low of
A$10.80, but they edged back to close at A$11.00.
A PT Energi Mega unit shut down gas production at the Pagerungan field
in the Kangean PSC late on Wednesday after the pipeline flow was
disrupted, the company said in a statement.
(With additional reporting by Telly Nathalia and Muklis Ali in Jakarta,
and Jonathan Standing and Ben Wilson in Sydney)