Purnomo proposes fertilizer plant, industrial estate to tap Tangguh gas

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro said on Wednesday he had proposed development of fertilizer plant and industrial estate in Bintuni Bay, West Papua to tap Tangguh gas reserves.

Purnomo said development of fertilizer plant and industrial estate in the area was adopting Arun and Bontang model, where fertilizer plants and industrial estate were built to domestically utilize abundant gas reserves in the area.

?I have proposed the idea to Minister of Industry Fahmi Idris, but thus far, he has yet responded,? he said, adding that for domestic utilization it would be better to build industry in the area close to Tangguh than to send Tangguh gas in form of LNG to Java. ?It would significantly cut gas transportation costs,? he said.

Operator BP plc is developing an LNG plant in Tangguh with capacity of 7.6 million tonnes per annum, all of which would be dedicated to export market. The plant would shipment of LNG in 2009.

Purnomo had repeatedly said future expansion of Tangguh LNG project must prioritize domestic users.(bernard)