Pertamina's Operations Are Guaranteed Safe, Bima Gulf Phenomenon Is Not an Oil Spill Result

Bima, April 29, 2022 - PT Pertamina Patra Niaga regional Jatimbalinus is committed in distributing the community’s fuel and LPG needs, especially in the West Nusa Tenggara province, through 3 fuel Terminals, namely Integrated Terminal Ampenan, Fuel Terminal Badas, and Fuel Terminal Bima.

Responding to the natural phenomenon in Bima Gulf yesterday, Pertamina Patra Niaga ensured that operations at the Bima Fuel Terminal would continue to run normally. There were no pipe leaks as rumored by several parties. The operational status at the Bima Fuel Terminal has also received a blue PROPER from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry. It means that Pertamina has complied with all regulations for environmental management.

"Until now, we have ensured that the Bima Fuel Terminal operations run smoothly. There are no operation failures or pipe leaks," said Communication & CSR Area Manager of Pertamina Patra Niaga Jatimbalinus, Deden Mochammad Idhani.

The Bima Regency Environmental Service has carried out direct inspections in the field (27/4), led by the Head of the Service, Jaidun. "To ascertain what happened and what causes this phenomenon, we have taken samples of seawater and the lump for further analysis in the laboratory," he said in a statement to reporters. Based on observations, the lump in Bima Gulf did not come from an oil spill.

As a follow-up, today (28/4) a coordination meeting was held and attended by the Deputy Assistant for the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs, KLHK, DLHK NTB Province, DLHK Bima Regency, Pertamina, and a team of related ministries, reaffirming that the preliminary results indicate that the incident in the Bima Gulf is a natural phenomenon suspected to be “sea snot”. “It is temporarily suspected that the natural phenomenon that occurred in Bima Bay yesterday was moss or algae, and there was no element of pollution from oil. However, we cannot conclude because we are still waiting for the laboratory results, which are expected to come out today," said the Head of the Environment and Forestry Service of NTB Province, Madani Mukarom.

"As a company with an operating unit near the incident location, Pertamina will continue to cooperate and coordinate with related parties. Parties are requested to obtain confirmation from the authorities, in this case, the Bima Regency Environmental Service," stated Deden.**