Govt plans to build 4 LNG plants until 2022

By Romel S. Gurky

Considering the rising demand for gas and relatively great discoveries in gas fields across the country, the Indonesian government has planned to develop 4 liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants until the year 2022.

Evita H. Legowo, Director General of Oil and Gas at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, said recently that the four LNG plants were Donggi Senoro LNG plant scheduled to be constructed in 2014 with a capacity of 2 mmtpa, Masela LNG plant scheduled to be developed in 2016 with a capacity of 4,5 mmtpa, Tangguh Train 3 scheduled to be built in 2018, and Natuna LNG plant scheduled to be built in 2022.

Currently, Indonesia has only three LNG plants, namely Arun with a capacity of 12,85 mmtpa, Bontang with a capacity of 21,64 mmtpa, and Tangguh with a capacity of 7,6 mmtpa.

The LNG plants are to be built based on two schemes, namely upstream scheme and downstream scheme. Those on the upstream scheme are usually owned by PSC contractors, while those on the downstream scheme are owned by state-owned companies which have licenses from the government to process gas.

Editing by Benget Besalicto Tnb.