Pekanbaru, Riau. Jakarta Globe, October 28, 2010.
Two children have suffered serious burns after a crude oil pipeline belonging Chevron Pacific Indonesia exploded on Thursday.
State news agency Antara reported the incident occurred in Manggala Jonson Village, Tanah Putih subdistrict, Rokan Hilir District, Riau province.
A local Resident, Andi, identified the victims as Wanda, 6, and Rini, 16.
“The sound of the explosion was so loud that I thought it was a bomb. The oil spurted 10 meters high,” he said.
Three houses were covered with the crude oil.
The dark black oil spilled the walls, roofs and the yards.
Police have secured the scene, which is near the Trans Sumatran road.
The leak had the potential to reduce output at the country’s largest producer of the fuel, the energy regulator, BPMigas, said.
BPMigas and Chevron Pacific Indonesia are investigating the incident to determine the effect of the leakage to production, with preliminary results expected at about 5 p.m. local time today, said Elan Biantoro, a spokesman at BPMigas. The incident started at 6 a.m. local time.
“The oil supply has been stopped,” Biantoro told reporters in Jakarta. “It will definitely affect production, but we don’t know yet by how much as it just happened this morning.”
The incident, the second in a month, may further reduce daily crude output in Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s biggest oil and gas producer. The country’s crude flow may drop by as much as 16 percent after a gas pipeline leakage in Sumatra on Sept. 29 disrupted production at companies including Chevron and PT Pertamina, BPMigas said Oct. 1.
Chevron Pacific is currently producing 20,000 barrels of oil a day below its normal production of 384,000 barrels a day before the gas pipeline leakage last month, Biantoro said.
Indonesia’s crude oil output in fell 9 percent to 752,534 barrels a day in October from a month earlier, BPMigas data showed yesterday. Indonesia’s 2010 state budget assumes a daily oil output of 965,000 barrels.
Antara/Bloomberg
In-Governance 
Posted on Oktober 29, 2010
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