ConocoPhillips to shut down gas fields

ConocoPhillips? Indonesian unit stopped natural gas supply from two fields in its Corridor block in Grissik, South Sumatra province, from Friday until April 19 for pipeline maintenance, The Jakarta Post reported on Saturday.

The planned shutdown may reduce daily gas production by 205 billion British thermal units and condensate output by 1,500 barrels, Gde Pradnyana, a spokesman at oil and gas upstream sector regulator BPMIGAS was quoted by the newspaper as saying in a mobile-phone text message Friday.

The Corridor block, which covers 2,359 square kilometers, has six oil and six gas fields, according to the Houston, Texas-based company?s website. ConocoPhillips (Grissik) Ltd. owns 54 percent of the block, Talisman (Corridor) Ltd. has 36 percent and PT Pertamina Hulu Energi Corridor has 10 percent, the website says.

ConocoPhillips has two contracts to supply gas from the block to PT Chevron Pacific Indonesia. One contract is for 1,255 trillion British thermal units (BTUs) of gas for 12 years and the other is for 22.8 trillion BTUs of gas for five years, BPMIGAS said last year. (*)