BP may take 6 weeks to repair gas pipes

Activities to repair the underwater pipeline used by BP Plc to transmit natural from its offshore West Java fields to two power plants in Jakarta owned by state-owned electricity firm PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) may take six weeks.

PLN has been taking emergency measures to cope with the shortage of power supplies caused by the disruption of gas supplies to its Tanjung Priok and Muara Karang power plants, including using diesel to generate turbines at one of the power plant.

Despite such measures, power supplies on the Java-Bali grid remain in a critical condition.

?The Java-Bali power grid is still on alert status,? Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro said on Wednesday during a joint press conference with top officials of PLN, BP Indonesia and state owned oil and gas company Pertamina

Marjolijn Wajong, BP West Java?s executive vice president, said the rupture in the pipe was caused by an anchor.

?On Monday, we said the repair works may take two weeks. But now, we predict the repair works may take between three and six weeks,? Wajong said.

BP stopped gas supplies to the Tanjung Priok and Muara Karang power plants on May 19, forcing PLN to suspend the operations of both power plants. This led to a drop in the power supplies on the Java-Bali grid by 750 Megawatt. However, PLN later bought diesel to fire its oil-based power units at the Tanjung Priok power plant, adding 200 MW to the grid.

PLN has said it needed 1,600 kiloliters of diesel per day to operate the 200 MW unit at the Tanjung Priok power plant. The firm has allocated Rp 115 billion in budget for the purchase of diesel from Pertamina over a period of two weeks.

The critical condition was further worsening due to the halt in the operation of the 600 MW fifth power unit at the Paiton power plant on Monday.

PLN?s acting president Djuanda Nugraha Ibrahim said during the press conference that the Paition fifth power unit had resumed operation on Tuesday evening and the second unit at Paiton has resumed operation after an overhaul. This has eased power supply shortage on the Java Bali grid.

PLN hoped to further power supplies to the grid with supplies from the Cilacap, Grati and Cilegon power plant.

Pertamina?s president Arie Soemarno assured that Pertamina was able to provide diesel as much as needed by PLN.

Purnomo called on the public to use power more efficiently in order to support the PLN?s efforts to secure power supplies for the Java-Bali grid during this period. (Godang)