Pertamina still struggling to secure LNG for Arun project
Tuesday, September 25 2012 - 02:08 AM WIB
State-owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina is still struggling to secure the necessary LNG supply for the Arun LNG receiving terminal project in Aceh, raising doubts whether construction of the project could be started as initially scheduled.
Daniel S. Purba, Vice President for LNG project at Pertamina, said that the EPC work was scheduled to start in October of this year in the hope that the project could be completed in the first quarter of 2014.
?The EPC work is supposed to start in October but has been hampered by the (lingering) uncertainty over the LNG supply,? Daniel told Petromindo.com Tuesday. The company will also have to delay the announcement of the winning bidder for the EPC work, which was supposed to be announced in August.
?The question now is whether the board of directors of Pertamina is allowed to make the final investment decision if there is no certainty yet on the LNG supply?? he wondered.
As reported earlier, four companies namely JGC Corp, Wika, Rekind and IKPT participated in EPC tender for the Arun regasification project.
Meanwhile, Director General of Oil and Gas Evita Legowo told Petromindo.com that the government has allowed Pertamina to seek overseas supply for the Arun project so that it could be started this year.
?The LNG must not only come from domestic sources, but can also be imported. We?ll also try to look from domestic sources,? Evita said.
Daniel welcomes the decision, but noting that it would consequently force domestic consumers to pay gas at international price.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak