Tropical Lightning Strike Potential as a Cause of Oil Tank Fire in Indonesia

Indonesia is located in a tropical region and has a high number of lightning flash density. In 2021, the latest oil tank fire incident in Balongan and Cilacap, Indonesia, caught the attention of lightning engineers. The oil and gas industry in Indonesia, in general, implements international standards related to lightning protection, such as the NFPA and API standards. However, due to the difference between lightning characteristic in tropical and sub-tropical area, the oil tank and refineries in the tropical area are not inherently self-protected againts lightning direct strikes. Oil and gas industries in tropical area requires additional lightning protection to prevent direct lightning strikes on tank wall, breather valve, and automatic tank gauging (ATG). Based on lightning characteristic in general, lightning can melt oil tank, causing the tank to leak. The voltage difference between the tank wall and the floating roof can cause sparks, then leads to the occurrence of fire. This paper discusses the potential of lightning strike that causes fire tank, including the existance of international standard in tropical area, and the solution of lightning threat, based on captured lightning data.