Pertamina, PLN to sign GSA on new gas supply from ONWJ

State owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina will increase the supply of natural gas from its newly-acquired Offshore North West Java (ONWJ) field to the Muara Karang power plant in North Jakarta owned by state owned electricity firm PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN.

ONWJ will add 20 MMCFD to the existing supply over two years.

?We plan to sign the gas sales agreement with PLN tomorrow (Thursday)," Ali Mudakir, spokesperson of PHE ONWJ, the Pertamina subsidiary that operates the block, told Petromindo.com on Wednesday.

The selling price for the new gas supply is US$5.1 per MMBTU, he said.

The Muara Karang power plant, located in the northern part of Jakarta, has a total installed capacity of 1,208 MW. The power plant has several types of power generation units, including combined cycle type and gas turbine type. It gets all its gas supplies from ONWJ.

The ONWJ block is operated by Pertamina after it acquired a 46 percent interest from BP Plc earlier this year. According to Pertamina's officials, ONWJ now produces 26,000 barrels of oil and 220 MMCFD of gas. The gas output will increase to 240 MMCFD thanks to the new supply.

Of the 220 MMCFD produced by ONWJ at present, 54 MMCFD goes to PLN's Muara Karang power plant, 70-80 MMCFD to PLN's Tanjung Priok power plant, and the rest to other customers such as state owned gas distributor PT Perusahaan Gas Negara (PGN) (65 MMCFD) and industrial customers. (godang/bernard)