Shell, Inpex still committed to developing Abadi project

By Romel S. Gurky

Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Inpex Corporation remain committed to work together with the Government of Indonesia to ensure that the Abadi project moves forward to optimally develop the Abadi gas reserves in a manner that benefits all.

This was said by Shell in its first quarter report.

Inpex as operator of the Abadi field received a notification from the Indonesian government authorities instructing to re-propose a plan of development based on onshore LNG for the Abadi LNG project, the firm said.

Both firms proposed in their Plan of Development (PoD) to develop the field, which is situated within Masela block in Maluku province, by building a floating LNG plant. The PoD sparked debates among the public, pitting the Cabinet members against each other as some supported the proposal, while others rejected it, proposing an onshore LNG plant as an alternative. President Joko Widodo finally decided to choose the onshore LNG option.

The block is 65 percent owned by Inpex with te remaining 35 percent owned by Shell.

Editing by Johannes Simbolon