Cepu block operator asked to speed up gas production

The government has asked state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina and ExxonMobil Indonesia as the operator of the Cepu block to soon begin gas production in the block so that Java will have enough gas supply if the construction of the East Kalimantan and Central Java gas pipeline cannot be carried out according to the initial plan, Kompas reported on Wednesday.

Head of Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Body BP Migas, Kardaya Warnika said Tuesday that the agency had formally asked Pertamina and ExxonMobil as the operator of the Cepu block to speed up gas production.

He said that the Cepu block with estimated gas reserves of about three trillion cubic feet would be able to produce between gas of 600 million cubic feet and 700 million cubic feet per day.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said during his trip in Samarinda on Monday that the government might cancel the plan to build a gas pipeline linking East Kalimantan province and Central Java if the local people did not support the program.

The local people had asked the government to cancel the pipeline project because if the project continued according the plan, the local industry could collapse due to the lack of gas supply.

Head of BPH Migas, the regulatory body for downstream oil and gas industry Tubagus Haryono said that they were not aware about the plan to cancel the gas pipeline project.

"I have learned about President's plan. But we have not received any information yet. During the latest meeting with BP Migas, there was no problem about the gas supply for the pipeline," he said.

Meanwhile, Bakrie and Brothers' public relations staff Jhony Suharto Darmo said that his party could not give a comment. "Bobby (Bakrie Brothers' president director) said that he left the problem to BPH Migas," he said.

Bakrie and Brothers, the winner of the tender to build a 1,200 km gas pipeline linking East Kalimantan and Central Java, is currently preparing the construction of the gas pipeline project. (*)