DNV Singapore to give second opinion on E. Java gas pipeline problems

A team of experts from Singapore-based consulting firm DNV Singapore will examine problems found in an underwater section of a natural gas pipeline in East Java, a senior executive of state oil and gas firm Pertamina said on Tuesday.

?We want second opinion from them about the problem. We need an independent organizastion to look into the case,? Pertamina?s upstream deputy director Eteng A. Salam told Petromindo.Com.

Eteng said Pertamina officials would meet with DNV Singapore experts on Wednesday.

What Pertamina could say at this stage was that seabed abrasion had occurred, and this had impacted the 440-kilometer pipeline which transmits gas from BP Indonesia?s gas field in Kangean Island to Porong on mainland East Java, according to Eteng.

Meanwhile, Pertamina?s spokesman Ridwan Nyak Baik said earlier that the gas pipeline was still in normal condition based on the survey and photos made by the Indonesian Marine Corps.

BP recently issued a press statement saying that a certain section of the 28-inch undersea pipeline had been floating above the sea bottom due to a lack of supporting poles. It said that the sand bed supporting a portion of the pipeline had eroded and put it under pressure.

BP warned that the floating pipeline could cause dangers to the busy shipping traffic in the area if the pipeline was not returned to its normal position.

Eteng said on Tuesday Pertamina had no plan to suspend the transmitting of natural gas from Pagerungan to East Java. (godang)