Regional LNG: Malaysia's troubled LNG train to restart April

Malaysia's MLNG Tiga said Wednesday that it would buy liquefied natural gas spot cargoes to make up for the production shutdown at its production Train 7, Dow Jones reported.

MLNG Tiga shut its 3.4 million-ton-a-year capacity Train 7 in Bintulu, Sarawak on August 16, due to a fire in a gas turbine. The train is expected to restart only in April.

Petronas, the majority owner of the Bintulu LNG complex, said the shutdown has resulted in a supply shortfall of a few LNG cargoes to its buyers.

South Korea's Korea Gas is to receive two-four cargoes a month from MLNG Tiga for the rest of the year.

Japanese customers - Tepco and Japex - are to receive a total of three-four cargoes over the next four months.

Petronas said it will try to mitigate some of the production shortfall by running its other two plants at 100% of their capacities.

Apart from MLNG Tiga, the Bintulu LNG complex also houses MLNG Satu and MLNG Dua.

MLNG Tiga is accelerating the startup of the new 3.4 million-ton/year Train 8, which is scheduled for October.(*)