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Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Arifin Tasrif (center) gives a statement to the press in Indramayu, West Java, on Saturday (April 3, 2021). ANTARA/Khaerul Izan/sh

The fire that engulfed PT Pertamina's refinery in Balongan, Indramayu District, West Java, could be fully extinguished, and the state-run company is conducting a cooling down process, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Arifin Tasrif stated.

"Alhamdulillah (thank God) the fire had been put out," Tasrif noted here on Saturday.

The minister remarked that the fire, initially erupting shortly after midnight of Monday (March 29), was extinguished in all four affected storage units on Wednesday (March 31). However, hours later, the fire re-surfaced in the units.

Tasrif explained that the fire broke out for the second time when the remaining hot oil came in direct contact with the air.

PT Pertamina will continue the cooling down process, he noted. "It continues to work on cooling down the remaining oil (in the storage)," the minister stated.The fire erupted on Monday (Mar 29), forcing Pertamina to shut the plant and evacuate some 950 nearby residents. Six were offered treatment at the hospital owing to the fire.

The company noted that seven percent of the refinery's 1.35 million kiloliters (KL) of storage capacity was affected, and that the tanks that caught fire were holding some 23 thousand KL of gasoline.

However, it made assurance that the national fuel stocks remained secure, and any shortage of fuel to Jakarta, which Balongan supplies, could be made up by refineries in Cilacap and Tuban//ANT