PT PIM will resume operation in April this year
Monday, March 13 2006 - 01:51 AM WIB
President director of PT PIM Hidayat Nyakman said in Jakarta last week the resumption of the fertilizer company's operation would be possible after PT Badak LNG plant in Bontang, East Kalimantan agreed to fulfill part of Aceh-based Arun LNG plant's export contracts.
He said with the agreement, ExxonMobil, the main gas supplier of PT Arun LNG plant, would be able to resume its gas supply. "We hope we will be able to resume operation in April, with a capacity of 45,000 tons per month. Our target is to produce about 270,000 tons during the first six months of the operation," he said.
According to Hidayat, state owned fertilizer company PT Pupuk Kaltim has agreed to cut its gas supply by about 10 percent so that the Badak LNG plant would have additional gas supply to help the Arun LNG plant to meet its LNG export contracts.
PT PIM stopped its operation in the middle of last year due to the lack of gas supply. The company used to receive gas supply from ExxonMobil but the company could no longer provide the gas supply to PT PIM because its production is enough only to meet Arun LNG's export contracts. (*)