Bina Bangun suspends LPG expansion plan

PT Bina Bangun Wibawa Mukti, a company owned by the Bekasi Regency administration in West Java has decided to delay a planned expansion of its LPG production capacity due to the lingering drop in oil price, Kontan reported on Thursday.

The paper quoted Bina Bangun President Director Prananto Sukodjatmoko as saying that although the company has obtained a US$25 million commitment from investor to develop a third LPG refinery facility, it has decided to delay the project as the current drop in oil price makes it no longer economically feasible.

Bina Bangun plans to develop a third LPG refinery with a capacity to process 15 mmscfd of natural gas from the Pondok Makmur and Tambun blocks in Bekasi into 40 tons of LPG per day. The company has also decided to delay pipeline infrastructure project.

The company, however, will proceed with completing the construction of its second LPG refinery, with commissioning expected to take place in November of this year. The second facility will increase Bina Bangun?s LPG production capacity from 40 tons per day to 100 tons per day.

Bina Bangun?s first LPG refinery started operation in 2006, developed by PT Odira Energi Persada under a 10-year BOT scheme, with a capacity of 40 tons per day of LPG and 35 kl per day of condensate.

Elsewhere, Kontan says that Bina Bangun is also seeking to have a 10 participating interest in the Offshore North West Java (ONWJ) block. (*)