Golar LNG says West Java FSRU ready for testing in January

Golar LNG Energy, which is building the first Indonesian floating storage regasifation unit (FSRU) to be deployed in the Jakarta bay, said that the FSRU vessel should be ready for testing on location in January next year.

 

?Our commitment is to have the vessel ready for testing in January. Then hopefully there is gas for downstream afterwards,? Blake Blackwell, senior vice president for business development of Golar Energy Management Ltd told Petromindo.com on the sideline of the Indonesia-Norway LNG seminar this week.

 

He said the key stage now is the installation stage. ?We are installing diesel generators. The key and major equipment is regasifaction equipment skids, which will be transported from China. We expect that to occur in November,? he said. The FSRU is being converted and modified in Jurong shipyard, Singapore.

 

Director General for Oil and Gas, Evita Legowo, said that she expects the FSRU West Java to commence operation in April 2012.

 

The West Java FSRU, is operated by PT Nusantara Regas (Regas), a joint venture of state oil and gas firm PT. Pertamina (Persero) and state-owned gas distributor PT Perusahaan Gas Negara (Persero) Tbk (PGN). The FSRU will have capacity of 3 million tonnes per year of LNG or equal to 400 MMSCFD.

 

The gas will be supplied to the Muara Karang and Tanjung Priok power plants in Jakarta, owned by state owned electricity firm PT PLN.

 

Golar LNG Energy Limited, a Norwegian company, leases the FSRU unit for approximately 11 years to Nusantara Regas.

 

Apart from the FSRU West Java project, Golar LNG is also eyeing the FSRU in offshore Semarang, Central Java, which is being tendered. The FSRU will roughly have similar water depth and capacity with the FSRU West Java.

 

Blackwell said he is exciting with the FSRU West Java project since it was the first in Indonesia. ?It will make a difference in Java. From our standpoint, Indonesia is important to us,? said Blackwell. (roffie)