AAF resumes operation as security condition in Aceh turns ?conducive?

After more than nine months being idle, fertilizer maker PT Asean Aceh Fertilizer (AAF), one of the major business assets in Aceh province, resumed operation on Sunday, which government and security officials said marked a significant improvement in security condition in the province.

The resumption in the operation of AAF, at 85 percent of capacity or 2,000 metric tons of urea per day, was made possible after local LNG producer PT Arun NGL resumed raw material LNG (liquefied natural gas) supply to the North Aceh-based company at 55 cubic feet per day.

AAF halted production after Arun stopped the LNG supply in March last year following a shut down of PT ExxonMobil Oil Indonesia?s Arun gas fields due to security threat in the troubled province. The Arun gas fields started to resume production in August.

The start of the AAF production was witnessed by Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro, Minister of Trade and Industry Rini MS Soewandhi, Aceh Governor Abdullah Puteh, and other government and top military officials in a ceremony. The ceremony was also witnessed by a group of journalists from Jakarta.

Purnomo said that the operation of the AAF facility was possible because security condition in Aceh has become more ?conducive.?

Local military authority Brig. Gen. Djali Jusuf confirmed this. ?The condition in Aceh right now is conducive.?

Aceh has been hit by security disturbances as local rebels fight for a separation of the oil-rich province from Indonesia. The fight intensified during the past couple of years following the downfall of former authoritarian leader Soeharto.

Late in December, one ExxonMobil?s contractor staff was killed when an unidentified gunmen ambushed the company?s convoy in North Aceh.

The halt in the Arun LNG production has disrupted supply to major export markets in Japan and South Korea. In 2001, for instance, LNG supply to the two markets were only 51 cargo shipments compared to the target of 116 shipments. Arun plans to ship some 109 cargoes or equal to 13,625 metric tons of LNG this year. Arun exports most of its LNG output.

Elsewhere, Dali Jusuf said that ExxonMobil staffs could start working to prepare for the resumption in the operation of the Pase gas fields right away without having to fear security threat.

Purnomo said that the Pase gas production was expected to start again sometime in February.

ExxonMobil operates gas fields in Lhok Sukon and Pase, both located in the remote North Aceh area.(Godang)