ExxonMobil prepares to resume operations

ExxonMobil Oil Indonesia, an Indonesian subsidiary of American oil and gas giant ExxonMobil Inc. that it is preparing to resume its gas operations in Aceh.

?We have started deploying technical experts to assess the condition and operability of the Arun field facilities and equipments.

We had also commence works to bring essential equipment up to production readiness in support of more normal operations? said Julia Tumengkol, the company?s spokesperson.

Julia said the measure was taken because the security condition in the area had been improving.

?All efforts are being made to bring the Arun field back into gas production as soon as possible,? said Julia.

She further said that full production would depend on the integrity of the facilities and the overall security situations.

?Assuming security condition permits, we plan on restarting gas production in phases. The start-up schedule will be worked out based on the input from the technical teams,? said Julia

Julia said the safety of the workers would remain the paramount concern of ExxonMobil management.

On Friday, Pertamina president Baihaki Hakim said he hoped liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports from the Arun plant could be resumed again before the end of July.

He said that ExxonMobil was also expected to reopen at least two of its gas fields in Lhok Sukon in the northern part of the troubled province to feed the LNG plant.

"The volume is enough to allow the nearby Arun LNG plant to resume operating at half of its capacity," said Baihaki.

At full capacity, Arun's four LNG trains can fill up to 10 LNG cargoes each month, worth a total of US$100 million.

ExxonMobil was forced to shutdown its gas production facilities early March due to worsening security condition in Aceh, causing PT Arun natural Gas Liquefaction (NGL) Co. and fertilizer plants which depended solely on gas supply from ExxonMobil to stop operations. (alex)