BP told to explore more gas reserves Papua

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro said Monday he had asked Anglo-American BP plc to look into the possibility of more gas reserves in Papua that could meet growing liquefied natural gas (LNG) demand in the future.

“Tangguh has reserves of 14.4 tcf (trillion cubic feet) but there are other reserves there that could reach 28 tcf. However, the reserves need to be verified,” said Purnomo.

BP-operated Tangguh LNG project consists of three production sharing contracts: Berau, Muturi and Wiriagar blocks. In August 1998, petroleum consultants DeGolyer and MacNaughton certified proved and probable reserves in the Tangguh at 18.3 tcf. The proved and probable reserves should be sufficient to support at least three trains each with a capacity of 3.5 million tons per annum of LNG for 25 years.

Purnomo also said BP was prioritizing to build two trains of LNG plant with total capacity of 7.5 million tons per annum in the Tangguh project. Construction of the Tangguh prooject will be started in January 2005.

BP is also considering an offer from the government to supply LNG to Chile, Purnomo added.

The government has recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the Chilean government on the supply of up to 4 million tons of LNG per annum to the Latin American country.

BP holds a 37.16 percent stake in the Tangguh project in partnership with MI Berau BV (16.30 percent), CNOOC Ltd (16.96 percent), Nippon Oil Exploration Berau (12.23 percent), KG Companies (10.0 percent) and LNG Japan Corporation (7.35 percent). (godang)