Cabinet meeting to discuss gas supply for Aceh?s fertilizer maker

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro said Wednesday that the continuity of natural gas supply for Aceh-based fertilizer maker PT Pupuk Iskandar Muda (PIM) would be discussed in a cabinet meeting.

?It is still difficult for the government to find new gas sources for Pupuk Iskandar Muda. A limited cabinet meeting will discuss the matter,? Purnomo told reporters. He did not say however when the cabinet meeting would be held.

PIM?s plants, PIM I and PIM II, have stopped operation due gas supply shortage. Activities of the plants have been disrupted over the past several months due to a drop in gas supply from Arun fields operated by ExxonMobil Oil Indonesia (EMOI), the only gas producer in Aceh. EMOI?s Arun gas reserves have depleted over the past several years.

EMOI has for decades supplied gas to PIM and another fertilizer maker in Aceh, PT ASEAN ACeh Fertilizer.

PIM president director Hidayat Nyak Mat had urged the government to reduce LNG exports from Aceh and ensure more gas supply to the company.

Meanwhile, the deputy to the coordinating minister for the economy, Dipo Alam said the government would likely reschedule LNG shipments from Aceh to foreign countries so that Aceh?s fertilizer plants can obtain enough supply of gas. (godang)