Pertamina denies wasting gas in Babelan field

State owned oil and gas company PT Pertamina has denied accusation that the company has wasted a large volume of gas at the Babelan field in Bekasi, West Java, Investor Daily reported on Monday.

Pertamina’s director for upstream operation, Bambang Nugroho, said in Jakarta last week that the company could not be blamed for the wasting of the gas because the operation of the Babelan field had been formally transferred to the Bekasi administration since the last two years.

At least 15 million standard cubic feet of gas are being wasted at the Babelan field a day due to the lack of processing facilities. If the price of gas is US$2 per million standard cubic feet, the financial loss due to the gas wasting could reach US$30,000 per day. “In two years, the financial loss could reach US$18 million,” he said.

According to Bambang, Pertamina had, for several times, signed memorandum of understandings (MOUs) with the Bekasi administration during the past two years to allow the regency to establish a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) plant to take the advantage of the gas production in the Babelan field. But the establishment of the LPG plant had not been realized until now. (*)