PLN, BPMIGAS yet to agree on Tangguh LNG price
Tuesday, February 28 2012 - 08:51 AM WIB
State electricity company PT PLN said it is yet to reach an agreement on the price of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to be purchased from Tangguh LNG project operated by BP Plc in West Papua.
PLN is in talks with related parties ? Sempra Energy, upstream authority BPMIGAS and BP Plc, the operator of Tangguh LNG project, ? to divert portion of Tangguh LNG supposed to be shipped to Sempra Energy to the company.
PLN requires LNG from Tangguh to meet the needs of its northern Sumatera power plants. The LNG will be regasified at the Belawan Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) in North Sumatera before it is delivered to PLN power plants in the area.
M. Suryadi Mardjoeki, Division Head for Fuel and Gas Procurement of PT PLN, told Petromindo.com that it expects the LNG price to be priced at US$11 per mmbtu or below, while BPMIGAS, which is responsible for marketing the Tangguh LNG, offered the LNG price at above US$11 per mmbtu.
Nevertheless, PLN, said Suryadi, hopes to reach a deal soon and sign the contract by April 2012.
The Belawan FSRU will be Indonesia?s second facility of its kind. The first one is the FSRU unit at the Jakarta bay, which is scheduled to commence operation in second quarter this year. The Belawan FSRU will be owned and operated by state gas distributor PT Perusahaan Gas Negara Tbk (PGN), while the purchase of LNG will be the responsibility of PLN as the user.
Editing by Roffie Kurniawan