Pertamina to relocate pipeline near Lapindo's exploration well

State owned oil and gas company Pertamina plans to relocate its pipeline segment that is overwhelmed by Lapindo Brantas' mudflow, fearing the mudflow would damage the pipeline and thus disrupt gas supply through the pipeline, Koran Tempo reported on Tuesday.

"The pipeline will be soon relocated. Otherwise, the pipes could be damaged and gas supply disrupted," said Pertamina's downstream director Sukusen Soemarinda following an inspection of the company's pipelines located near Lapindo exploration well.

The pipeline with the capacity of 140 million cubic feet per day (MMCFD) is now used to transport natural gas the Kangean Block in Madura owned by Energi Mega Persada to Gresik in East Java's mainland.

According to Sukusen, the pipeline that was built in 1992 has a total length of 350 kilometers, including a segment stretching 70 km along the East Java North Coast from Sidoarjo to Gresik. The pipeline segment that will be relocated by Pertamina is 1.2 km in length.

Sukusen said Lapindo would cover the relocation cost but he refused to provide any figures.(*)