EWC says S. Sulawesi LNG plant on track to start ops late 2009
Wednesday, October 29 2008 - 03:39 AM WIB
The other three 500,000TPA units will follow in intervals of 3/4 months thereafter, the company said.
The company said that first two 500,000 TPA units including cold box, refrigerant compressors, compressor rotor and gas pre-treatment equipments are 80% completed and will be ready for shipment to site early in the new year 2009.
The company said it was currently in talks with Teekay Gas Services USA for the shipments of LNG from the Sengkang facility.
The company said it already has sufficient gas to fulfill its obligations to supply gas to the expanded Sengkang power plant up to 315 MW and to commence production and produce up to 2 MTPA of LNG for a period of between 8-10 years.
According to the company, Sengkang PSC has proven reserves of 828 BCF and 4.2 TCF of prospects, which may allow the project?s capacity to gradually grow to 5 MTPA.
?The company has an ongoing dialogue with potential LNG off-takers, however our business strategy is to expedite the construction of the Sengkang LNG facility without first having completed substantial resource development or concluding long term off-take agreements with buyers. This non-traditional approach to LNG development rests on the relatively lower capital cost and shorter construction period for our Sengkang LNG facility, utilizing our modular 500,000 TPA LNG trains and our ability to finance the key project developments and future gas field developments from cash flow generated by LNG production and sales,? the company said.
According to the company?s presentation, it had held talks to sell Sengkang LNG to potential customers such as state electricity firm PLN for its Tanjung Priok, Tambak Lorok and Bali power plants, and state nickel miner PT.Aneka Tambang, which plans to set up a 100-MW power plant in its Eastern Indonesia mine.
EWC also seemed undeterred by current financial crises which caused many oil, gas projects to be stopped or delayed as it said it had sufficient cash to bring Sengkang LNG plant into production. The company said it has concluded negotiations with Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) and formally entered into a US$75 million 3-year Bilateral Revolving Working Capital Facility.
EWC did not disclose whether its plan to set up an LNG plant had been approved by Indonesian government, as in the past, officials from upstream oil, gas authority BPMIGAS had repeatedly denied any knowledge about the project.
EWC has 100 percent interest in Sengkang PSC.(denny)