Arun Regas to get first LNG cargo end January

By Febry Silaban

A new facility officially called Arun LNG Storage and Regassification Terminal or Arun Regas in Aceh operated by PT Perta Arun Agas (PAG) will receive the first LNG cargo on Jan. 29, according to a top official of the firm.

PAG was formed by state owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina, through its subsidiary PT Pertagas, to convert the aging Arun LNG plant into an LNG regassification facility and operate it.

?Arun Regas will take its first LNG cargo from the Bontang plant in East Kalimantan, convert the liquid into gas through the so-called regassification process before sending it through pipelines to the power plant owned by PT PLN (state owned electricity firm) in Belawan, North Sumatra,? PAG President Director Teuku Khaidir told Petromindo.com recently.

Commissioning of the facility has started since early this month and once the LNG cargo from Bontang has arrived, PAG will start commercial operation, Khaidir said.

?Unless there are obstacles, the commercial operation will start in the first or second week of February,? Khaidir said, adding that the Arun LNG Storage and Regassification Plant is the first LNG regassification facility in the world to be built at an LNG liquefaction plant.

The Arun Regas will open a new chapter in the history of the LNG plant which in the past played an important role in supplying energy to the Asia-Pacific region.

The Arun LNG plant in Aceh which is operated by PT Arun NGL sent its last LNG cargo in October 2014 to South Korean firm Kogas, ending its three-decade history as an LNG producer.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak