Petronas receives first West Natuna gas delivery

Malaysia's state-owned Petroliam Nasional Bhd.(Petronas), has received the first delivery of natural gas from Indonesia's West Natuna field, the company said in a statement released Tuesday.

The gas was delivered via pipeline from the Hang Tuah moveable offshore production platform in Indonesian waters to the Duyong gas platform offshore Peninsular Malaysia, it said.

Under the gas sales agreement, Indonesia's Pertamina will supply up to 250 million cubic feet of gas a day for 20 years.

The formal initialization of gas flow would be conducted in Bali on Thursday, witnessed by Prime Minister Mahathir Muhammad and President Megawati Sukarnoputri.

Initially, about 100 million cubic feet a day will be supplied, with the volume expected to peak at 250 million cubic feet a day.

The Indonesian portion of the West Natuna-Duyong connection was built by Conoco Indonesia, a subsidiary of U.S.-based Conoco Inc., as the production-sharing contractor for Block B in West Natuna. The Malaysian portion was built by Petronas Carigali, the exploration arm of Petronas.

The pipeline is an important step toward the realization of the Trans-Asean gas pipeline network, the statement said.(*)