PGN to start construction of FSRU Lampung this year
Friday, October 12 2012 - 12:45 AM WIB
State gas distributor PT Perusahaan Gas Negara (PGN) will start the development of floating storage and re-gasification unit (FSRU) Lampung later this year expecting it to start operation in 2014, the company?s senior official said.
?We?re now in a process of final negotiation with its developer on the changes and details that we should make due to the relocation from Belawan (North Sumatra) to Lampung. We?ll start its construction later this year,? PGN Planning and Investment Director Wahid Sutopo said on the sidelines of the 12th Gas Information Exchange 2012 (GASEX 2012) in Bali Thursday night.
The FSRU was initially planned by PGN to be located in Belawan to cater for the rising need of gas in the province, but then the government - through the minister of state enterprises - asked PGN to relocate it to Lampung because Arun liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant would be converted by state oil and gas PT Pertamina to an LNG receiving terminal once its LNG production finishes in 2014. The government noted that if both gas facilities would be operating then their operations will not be efficient due to only focusing on the same market in Aceh and North Sumatra.
He said the FSRU vessel would be constructed in South Korea by Hoegh LNG Ltd of Norway. ?The FSRU will consist of three units, two will be operated while the other one to function as a backup,? Sutopo said.
According to him, the FSRU, which is to be built in Labuhan Maringgai, Lampung, with a total investment of US$100 million, will have a capacity of between two and three million tons per year. He did not elaborate on the source of its gas.
Recently, PGN has been trying to seek gas supply from Russia and Africa as apparently it found it difficult to get gas from the local market. Importing from foreign sources may become possible alternative as the government has said that it is considering such a possibility.
Editing by Dadan Wijaksana