PT Arun urged to review LNG export plan

Minister of Trade and Industry Rini M. Soewandi has called on the country's oil and gas authority to review the export plan of liquefied natural gas (LNG) producer PT Arun NGL to ensure that the three fertilizer plants in Aceh province will get enough gas supply to meet their production target.

Speaking at a hearing with members of the House of Representatives, Rini said that PT Arun which receives gas supply from ExxonMobil Oil Indonesia's gas fields in the province had recently extended its LNG export contract with South Korea and Japan until the end of 2005.

If the export extension contract is realized, the three fertilizer companies PT Pupuk Iskandar Muda I (PIM I), PIM II and Asean Aceh Fertilizer (AAF) will not be able to get enough gas supply because the gas production of ExxonMobil is only enough to meet PT Arun's export commitment.

"We have formally asked Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources to review the extension of the LNG export contract in order to protect the fertilizer producers," she was quoted by Bisnis Indonesia as saying.

The three fertilizer companies which had been closed for several months due to the lack of gas supply has been able to operate again after the government's gas and oil authority BP Migas stepped in and asked ExxonMobil to resume the gas supply to the fertilizer producers.

Although the gas supply is far from enough but the three fertilizer producers could resume their production activities, albeit at a low production rate. (*)