Indra Harsaputra, Surabaya – A plan by Lapindo Brantas Inc. to begin new drilling activity in Kalidawir subdistrict, Tanggulangin, Sidoarjo, East Java, has been strongly rejected by both local residents and mudflow victims over worries that the endeavor might cause another disaster and further social trauma.
Tanggulangin resident Nasromi said that the oil and gas exploration company had approached local people and promised that another mudflow disaster would not be repeated in the future.
"But we don't believe it. Even up to now there are still many victims who have yet to receive compensation from Lapindo, although they promised to complete compensation payments by the end of last year," Nasromi told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.
Nasromi and other Tanggulangin villagers were not direct victims of the 2006 Lapindo mudflow, which displaced thousands of people, but they also suffer from the social and economic impacts of the disaster.
Nur Ahmad, one of the mudflow victims who has yet to receive compensation, said he would stop Lapindo from conducting new drilling activities in Sidoarjo. "We have had enough with Lapindo's nonsense. How can we trust that the new wells are secure for the community," Nur said.
Lapindo Brantas Inc. spokesperson Diaz Roychan confirmed that the company would start the planned exploration activity in Tanggulangin, which is some 2.5 kilometers from the center of the 2006 mudflow.
He said there were seven new wells to explore in Tanggulangin with depths of between 3,400 meters to some 3,600 meters in the Pucangan Formation.
This formation, he said, is not connected to that of Kujung, which had caused the blow out that led to the hot mudflow disaster. "So, there is nothing to worry about," he said.
Diaz said the drilling activity was part of the company's exploration expansion in the 27 oil and gas wells in Wunut, Tanggulangin and Ceret Sidoarjo. Of the wells, he said, only nine have been producing 4 million metric standard cubic feet per day, whose products are to supply the province of East Java's need for liquefied natural gas (LNG).
"We decided to start the exploration because of the demand for gas in the province. Otherwise we will experience a gas crisis in East Java," he said.
He added the new wells had the potential of producing 16-20 million metric standard cubic feet per day of gas and 150 barrels of oil per day.
Company drilling manager Bambang Heru Yuwono said the exploration had been well-planned and Lapindo itself had the same trauma as experienced by the mudflow victims.
"None of the world's geologists ever confirmed that the mudflow came from the Pucangan Formation that we are going to drill," Bambang said, adding that Lapindo had received approval from the Sidoarjo Mudflow Management Agency for the planned exploration. Upstream oil and gas regulator BP Migas senior public and institutional relations manager Elan Biantoro said his office would help Lapindo start the planned exploration in August this year due to the urgent need for gas supply.
Separately, the chairman of the November 10 Institute of Technology Surabaya group analyzing the hot mud flow, I Nyoman Sutantra, said that his team had yet to recommend Lapindo explore new wells due to lack of research on the geological conditions in Porong, which reportedly has experienced significant changes following the mudflow disaster.