LNG Arun remains in operation despite continuing turbulence in Aceh

The liquid natural gas operation of PT LNG Arun NGL remains in operation and is able to meet its sale contract on time despite the continuing security uncertainty in the Aceh province, according to Lence E. Johnson, vice president of Exxon-Mobil Oil for Southeast Asia and Australia.

But Johnson admitted that the security surrounding the LNG facility had been intensified.

He was quoted as saying by the Neraca daily that there were several critical points in the gas facility that needed maximum security.

Johnson was responding to earlier reports that the LNG facility would be shut down amid increasing threat to its staffs in Aceh.

Johnson was speaking to the press after meeting Minister of mines and energy Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

The Arun compound had been threatened by explosives several times recently. The employees had also been threatened through phone. (*)