Four cargoes of LNG from Arun remain unsold

State oil and gas company Pertamina is still looking for buyers for four cargoes of liquied natural gas (LNG) to be produced by its subsidiary PT Arun NGL Co in Lhok Seumawe, Aceh this and next month, a Pertamina source said Tuesday.

The source said Arun would produce seven cargoes of LNG this month and another nine cargoes next month, but Pertamina had thus far only managed to find buyers for five cargoes of this month?s production and seven cargoes of next month?s production.

?Thus, two cargoes of the October production and two cargoes of the November production remain unsold,? the official told Petromindo.Com.

The source said of the five cargoes of this month?s production that have secured purchasing deals, three will be bought by Korean firm Kogas, while the other two by Japanese buyers. He however could not identify the Japanese buyers.

He could not either identify the buyers of the seven cargoes of the November production.

Arun resumed its LNG production in August after being forced to suspend its operation for several months due to the stoppage of gas supplies from ExxonMobil Oil Indonesia Inc., which is a unit of American energy giant ExxonMobil Corp.

ExxonMobil suspended its gas operations in Lhok Sukon in March due to security problems and resumed the operation in July.

The months-long suspension has forced the South Korean and Japanese buyers of LNG from Arun to find other sources of LNG supplies. Thus, once Arun restarted its operation in August, Pertamina had to work hard to persuade them to buy back from Arun. (Arry Dharmawan)