Indonesia's state energy company PT Pertamina said on Tuesday it will develop a fuel storage facility in north Jakarta, following a deadly fire that broke out at a terminal earlier this year and spread into a densely populated residential area.
Pertamina has been under pressure to modernize and relocate from its Plumpang fuel terminal, one of Indonesia's oldest fuel storage facilities, after the March fire, which killed at least 33 people, according to local media reports.
The new site will be managed by Pertamina International Shipping, the group's marine logistic unit, with expected investment of about $559 million in the first phase, spokeperson Aryomekka Firdaus said.
The new site will be larger than the Plumpang facility and will be developed on a 64-hectare (158.15 acres) area in Kalibaru, North Jakarta, with an expected storage of up to 6 million barrels, Pertamina said in a statement.
The new terminal will be able to store gasoline, biodiesel and liquefied petroleum gas, as well as liquefied natural gas, crude palm oil and petrochemical products and hydrogen fuel.
Asked whether Plumpang's operation will be moved fully to the new facility, Pertamina spokeperson Fadjar Djoko Santoso said under current plan, it "will complement" Plumpang.
(Reuters - Reporting by Fransiska Nangoy; Editing by Martin Petty)