Arun to send last cargo on Oct. 15

By Godang Sitompul

State owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina said on Tuesday that the Arun LNG plant in Aceh will send its LNG cargo on Oct.15 to South Korea, ending its three-decade history as an LNG producer.

Once the last cargo has been sent, the LNG plan will be deactivated and change function as an LNG regasification facility.

?The last cargo will be shipped on Oct. 15. After that, the conversion process into a regasification facility will start,? Pertamina?s LNG Commercial VP Didik Sasongko Widi told Petromindo.com.

The plant started commercial operation in 1978. At its peak, annual LNG production from Arun reached 12.5 MTPA.

Arun NGL processes gas produced by US giant ExxonMobil from North Sumatra Offshore (NSO) PSC and Block B PSC, both of which expire in 2018.

Pertamina is currently converting some parts of the LNG plant into LNG receiving terminal and regasification facilities. The Arun LNG Storage & Regasification Terminal project is designed to have a total capacity of 400 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) or equal to 3 million tons a year.

Editing by Johannes Simbolon