Gas supplies to Arun NGL still limited

It will be difficult for PT Arun Natural Gas Liquefaction (NGL) Co to meet its second contract of liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to Japan and South Korea this year because of the limited natural gas feeds from ExxonMobil Oil Indonesia Inc, Bisnis Indonesia reported on Tuesday.

Arun NGL vice president Hasan Saad revealed that only two of its six LNG trains were currently in operational, and they consumed 600 million standard cubic feet per day of gas supplied by ExxonMobil.

"Moreover, ExxonMobil faces difficulties in running normal production, as gas supplies from its Point-A gas production operation unit is not yet running well because the security situation in that area is not yet really conducive," he said.

He made the statement after witnessing the shipment of one LNG cargo vessel from Arun to Tokyo Electric Power Company Inc. of Japan, the first shipment following the suspension of Arun NGL operation four months ago.

Technically, Hasan said Arun NGL would be able to meet its export contract if gas supplies could meet the all the need of Arun NGL's six liquefaction trains.

Hasan said earlier that LNG consumers in Japan has asked Arun NGL to operate fully starting next month.

"The Japanese buyers have given a time frame until September for Arun refinery plant to operate normally," he said.

With the new commitment from Japanese buyers, now Arun NGL is awaiting a response from its South Korean customers, that had told Arun it would not buy LNG from Arun for some time because it still kept a good level of LNG in its inventory. (*)