Baihaki says E. Java gas pipeline problems exaggerated

State oil and gas firm Pertamina president director Baihaki Hakim said on Tuesday problems in its undersea gas pipeline in East Java were not as serious as media reports.

?It is not that serious as exposed by the media,? Baihaki told reporters.

Baihaki added he had not yet received any formal reports about what had really happened with the 440-kilometer pipeline which transmits natural gas from BP Indonesia?s Pagerungan field on Kangean Island to mainland East Java.

Pertamina?s upstream deputy director Eteng A. Salam said early on Tuesday seabed abrasion had occurred on a certain part of the gas pipeline location. But it was just Pertamina?s preliminary view, he added.

Eteng said his company had asked a team of experts from Singapore-based consulting firm DNV Singapore to determine the real condition of the gas pipeline.

Pertamina had earlier asked Indonesian Marine Corps to examine the pipeline, and had been informed that it was in a normal condition.

Pertamina?s moves were to follow up on BP?s reports that a certain section of the 28-inch pipeline had been floating above sea bottom due to a lack of supporting poles. BP said the sand supporting a segment of the pipeline had eroded and put it under pressure.

BP had warned about the dangers caused by the floating pipeline on ships traveling in the pipeline area. This had caused fears that Pertamina might decide to suspend the transmitting of gas from Pagerungan.

Pertamina officials said however it had no plan to stop transmitting gas from Pagerungan to mainland East Java. (godang)