"Compensation will surely be given later in accordance with the procedures and the consensus that has been reached," PT Pertamina's Corporate Communication VP, Fajriyah Usman, told the press here on Thursday.
The state oil and gas company has set up several command posts to accommodate complaints by people who have been affected by the oil spill in the Kerawang and Bekasi waters.
Pertamina will also compensate the local fishermen and residents who have helped clean oil pollution on the shorelines.
Local fishermen could not catch fish due to the oil spill, hence they were asked to help clean the waters, she said.
PT Pertamina is still investigating the cause of gas released from the YYA-1 well in West Java that led to the oil spill. Pertamina has mobilized 27 ships and 12 sets of oil boom to handle the environmental impact, and in cooperation with the Indonesian Navy and the Maritime Police, it deployed seven patrol boats to ensure no fishermen conduct fishing activities in the area.
Last week, Pertamina in its statement said that it halted operations and removed workers from a gas drilling platform in the Offshore North West Java (ONWJ) block because of a dangerous “well kick”.
A spokesman of the ONWJ block operator Pertamina Hulu Energi (PHE), Ifki Sukarya, said the kick, an unplanned and often violent release of gas caused by low pressure in a wellbore, started on July 12 and became bigger two days later.
The well kick occurred in the re-activated YYA-1, located beneath the PHE ONWJ’s offshore platform two kilometers north of Karawang, West Java.
Translator: Asep Firmansyah, Fardah
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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