Pertamina's hope to supply more LNG cargoes to S. Korea dims

Pertamina?s hope to get two or three additional LNG cargoes to supply South Korea for March-April shipment is getting dimmer after fertilizer maker PT. Pupuk Kalimantan Timur (PKT) turned down Pertamina?s proposal to put forward PKT?s plant overhaul schedule.

?We simply can not do that. Another fertilizer maker PT. Petrokimia Gresik in East Java is on overhaul mode. If we stop production now-despite delayed planting season- there will be time that this country will suffer severe shortage of fertilizer,? PKT spokesperson Sulais was quoted by Suara Pembaruan evening daily as saying Saturday.

Pertamina had been urging PKT to conduct earlier-than-scheduled overhaul to enable the latter to switch PKT?s natural gas consumption to Bontang?s LNG plant so that the plant produce three additional LNG cargoes for March-april shipments South Korea-bound.

PKT is currently consuming some 200 million standard cubic feet of gas per day.

Meanwhile, the daily also quoted TotalFinaElf E&P Indonesie Ananda Idris as saying that in short term it was technically not possible to increase output from it gas field due to technical limitation.

TotalFineElf is largest natural gas supplier to Bontang LNG plant.(*)