BPH Migas: Lower Arun-Belawan pipeline fee to cut down gas price

Petromindo|Godang

As has been earlier reported by this portal, quoting a source, downstream oil and gas regulator BPH Migas finally announced on Wednesday a lower toll fee in the transmission of gas via the 350-km Arun-Belawan gas pipeline at US$1.55 per mscf, down from the previous 2.53 per mscf.

Member of the BPH Migas Committee Hari Partoyo said that the lower toll fee will help cut down gas price for end consumers including state-owned electricity firm PT PLN and industries in North Sumatra region.

?Our move is to help industries and PLN to get a more affordable gas price,? he said.

PLN has long been demanding PT Pertamina Gas (Pertagas), operator of the Arun-Belawan pipeline, to lower the gas toll fee to help reduce electricity production cost. PLN has been using the pipeline to transmit gas from the Arun LNG regasification facility in Aceh Province to its PLTGU Belawan combined cycle power plant in North Sumatra, under a 15-year contract.

Gas for the PLTGU Belawan comes from the Tangguh LNG plant in West Papua in the form of LNG, which is then shipped to the Arun LNG terminal and regasification facility, and then transmitted to the power plant via the Arun-Belawan pipeline.

PLN?s gas demand going forward will continue to increase in North Sumatra region with the recent operation of two new power plants in the province including the 75 MW Pasir Paya mobile power plant, and a 240 MW marine vessel power plant brought in from Turkey.

Demand will further increase with the completion of the 184 MW PLTG Arun gas-fired power plant, and the 250 MW PLTG Arun expansion project.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak