Indonesia's Pertamina to spend nearly $2 billion to improve safety

JAKARTA (Reuters) -Indonesian state oil firm PT Pertamina plans to spend nearly $2 billion in the period up to 2026 to improve safety at its facilities, executives said on Tuesday, as lawmakers grilled officials over their response to a series of fires and explosions.

Last month, a fire at Pertamina's fuel terminal in north Jakarta killed more than 30 people after the blaze spread to a nearby densely populated neighbourhood.

The deadly fire followed several incidents in recent years at Pertamina's refineries, with the latest at the weekend, when an explosion at the company's Dumai refinery hurt nine workers.

The parliamentary energy committee has called for a "total audit" of Pertamina's assets after the incidents.

Pertamina had launched a safety audit for its refineries in 2021 following a fire at its Balongan refinery and the company has since started implementing improvements at its refineries, chief executive Nicke Widyawati told lawmakers at a hearing.

Taufik Adityawarman, chief executive of refinery arm Kilang Pertamina Internasinal, told the same hearing that Pertamina was spending $980 million in 2022 and 2023 to address problems found in the audit, including installing equipment to protect against lightning and to train workers.

In the period up to 2026, Pertamina planned to spend nearly $2 billion in total on safety improvements, refinery reliability and maintenance, he said.

The executives at Tuesday's hearing did not disclose safety improvement plans for other facilities such as fuel terminals.

Meanwhile, Pertamina is currently conducting repairs at its Dumai refinery and operations were expected to return to full capacity by April 15 following the explosion late on Saturday.

The cause of the Dumai incident was still being investigated, Taufik said.

Pertamina would make sure that fuel supplies were secure despite the incidents, especially ahead of the Eid al-Fitr holidays later this month when tens of millions of Indonesians are expected to travel to their home towns.

"We will increase production at other refineries to secure fuel supply ... We have no plan to increase imports to compensate for the lower Dumai production," Taufik said.

(Reporting by Fransiska NangoyEditing by Ed Davies)