Bontang LNG to see excessive capacity in 2010

Bontang LNG plant in East Kalimantan will experience excessive capacity in 2010 when some LNG supply contracts expire, president director of state oil and gas firm Pertamina Baihaki Hakim said on Tuesday.

The expiring contracts were those signed between Pertamina and five Japan?s buyers namely Kansai Electric, Kyushu Electric, Nippon Steel, Tohoku, and Tepco, according to official data.

LNG supply under contracts still effective in 2010 will amount to 10.15 million metric tons per year.

Baihaki said on Tuesday few contracts would possibly be extended, involving only around 6 million metric tons of LNG which would go to several Western buyers from Japan (Osaka Gas, Kansai Electric Power & Co, Kyushu Electric and Chubu Electric).

Bontang LNG, currently having eight trains, has capacity to turn out 21.6 metric tons of LNG per year, compared with the 31.6 million metric tons of national production.

He said Pertamina had not found potential buyers of the excessive volumes of Bontang LNG. His company had not taken any measures to deal with the oversupply, Baihaki added.

Baihaki said further Pertamina had considered to delay it plan of building the ninth LNG train, Train I, in Bontang.

Bontang LNG is operated by PT Badak NGL Co., which is 55 percent owned by Pertamina, 20 percent by Vico, 10 percent by TotalFinaElf, and 15 percent by Japan Indonesia LNG Co. (JILCO). (alex)