Pertagas waiting for approval to set up JV with Medco
Saturday, June 9 2012 - 02:58 AM WIB
PT Pertamina Gas (Pertagas), a subsidiary of state oil and gas company PT Pertamina, is waiting for an approval from state entreprises minister to establish a joint venture (JV) firm with PT Medco Methanol Bunyu, a subsidiary of the publicly listed energy firm PT Medco Energi Internasional Tbk.
The joint venture firm will develop a gas pipeline from Simenggaris to Bunyu in East Kalimantan to funnel gas at 25 mmscfd.
?We?ve talked about this with Pertamina and Medco Methanol Bunyu. But based on Pertamina?s articles of association, for every cooperation longer than 10 years, it has to obtain shareholders' approval. In this case an approval from minister of state enterprises as its shareholder,? PT Pertagas President Director Gunung Sardjono Hadi told Petromindo.com in Jakarta on Friday.
He pointed out that his company was also waiting for a license from Regent of Tanah Tidung regency in East Kalimantan to use land for the gas pipeline development.
?Now, the only thing we haven?t got for this development is the license from Tanah Tidung. Of all three regencies?Nunukan, Bulungan, and Tanah Tidung, only Tanah Tidung that has not yet given a land use license,? he said.
?All others concerned with the development had been settled. We?ve even conducted tenders, and now we?re in a process of deciding the winners,? he said.
He noted that he had made a courtesy call to Tanah Tidung. ?They want the gas from Simenggaris Block, around 25 mmscfd, to be developed in Tanah Tidung. This is a dilemma for Pertagas. But it had been decided as a corporate decision that the gas is for Methanol Bunyu,? he said.
Previously, it was reported that PT Medco Energi Internasional was speeding up the engineering, construction and procurement (EPC) works on a gas facility in Simenggaris, together with PT Pertamina Hulu Energi through a joint operating body (JOB).
?We are speeding up the construction in Simenggaris by the JOB Pertamina-Medco so that the facility with the capacity of 25 mmscfd could be completed this month,? Medco Energi CEO Lukman Mahfoeds said in April.
Lukman added that the gas would be delivered to its methanol refinery in Bunyu, East Kalimantan, which had been shut down as gas supply dried up two years ago.
?However, the pipeline system which will deliver the gas from Simenggaris to Bunyu has not yet been completed because of permit issue,? he said.
Editing by Benget Besalicto Tnb.