PEP committed to raise gas supply to Pusri to normal level
Wednesday, October 2 2013 - 07:05 AM WIB
PT Pertamina EP (PEP), an upstream subsidiary of state owned PT Pertamina, pledged on Wednesday to raise its gas supply to state owned fertilizer firm PT Pusri in Palembang, South Sumatra to the normal level set in the contract.
Based on the contract signed in December last year, PEP will supply Pusri 166 mmscfd of gas from January 1, 2013, to December 31, 2017, with total volume set at 286,350 mmscf. PEP is however unable to supply the gas at the contractual rate.
?Supplying gas to Pusri is high on our priority list. We continues to do our best to raise gas output in South Sumatra, either through exploration or production optimizing efforts,? PEP?s President Director Syamsu Alam told Petromindo.com.
PEP?s Marketing Vice President Sigit Wijayandaru said the decrease in the gas supplies to Pusri was caused by ?technical problems? in which PEP has to supply more gas to the power plant owned by PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) to back up an international event in Palembang.
?Our obligation is to supply Pusri with 166 mmscfd of gas. As a matter of fact, Pusri?s absorption capacity dropped to 150 mmscfd for several weeks as a result of turnaround in at the fertilizer plant,? Sigit said.
According to Sigit, PEP now supplies gas to Pusri at 96 percent of the rate set in the contract, still higher the average supply capability of all gas fields included in PEP Asset 2, which is 69 percent of the contractual rate.
He noted that the decline in gas production is not only experienced by PEP in South Sumatra but also PT Pertagas (another subsidiary of Pertamina) and Medco Energi Internasional.
Editing by Johannes Simbolon