Arun NGL plant may be converted into condensate processor
Monday, December 20 2010 - 02:16 AM WIB
The conversion into a condensate processor is one of two options which are currently being studied by Arun NGL which will have to stop its LNG production within the next few years at its LNG plant in Lhokseumawe, North Aceh due to shortage of gas.
The company?s corporate secretary Suparman T said that the other option would be to convert the Arun LNG plant into a LNG receiving terminal for the state owned fertilizer producer PT Pupuk Iskandar Muda, which is also located in Lhokseumawe.
?The options are currently under study. But converting the LNG plant into a condensate processor will be less costly than converting it into a LNG receiving terminal,? he added.
Besides, being less costly, converting the LNG plant into a condensate processor will take only about 12 months to complete, he said, adding that if the plant?s function was changed into a condensate processor, it would be able to produce fuel with a capacity of 40, 000 kiloliters per day, which would be sufficient enough to meet fuel demand in Aceh and surrounding areas.
The Arun LNG plant, the country's first LNG plant, operated by ExxonMobil Indonesia (EMOI), the subsidiary of American energy giant ExxonMobil Corp., targets to ship 38 cargoes and 26 cargoes of LNG in 2011 and 2012, respectively.
EMOI's vice president Maman Budiman said in July 2010 that for this year, Arun targeted to ship 39 cargoes of LNG.
Arun's LNG output is now on declining trend due to declining reserves of gas at blocks operated by EMOI. Its supply contract to East Asian buyers expires within the next few years.
Maman said on May 19, this year that currently EMOI produces 300-400MMCFD at its Aceh gas blocks and the output will gradually dwindle to some 60 MMCFD in 2015 towards the expiration date of the blocks? contracts in 2018.
Maman said EMOI is in talks to supply its remaining gas production after 2015 towards the end of its PSC contracts to Aceh fertilizer maker PT Pupuk Iskandar Muda (PIM). ?After Kogas contract ends, EMOI will have capacity to supply 60 MMCFD to PIM,? he said.
Maman said that thus far, EMOI did not have plan to extend its PSC contracts in Aceh.
Upstream oil, gas regulator BPMIGAS? deputy chairman Budi Indianto said in last February that BPMIGAS was studying the possibility to turn a loading terminal at Arun complex into an LNG receiving terminal to meet gas requirement of PIM. (*)