Tangguh expansion project receives AMDAL approval, environmental permit

Oil and gas giant BP announced Saturday that the government of Indonesia, through the Ministry of Environment, has approved the Tangguh Expansion Project AMDAL environmental and social impact assessment and issued the project an environmental permit.

The AMDAL includes Tangguh?s environmental and social commitments. It also outlines the role of the local administration and central government. Approval is required for project activities to begin at the Tangguh site, the company said.

?This is a significant milestone for the Tangguh Expansion Project, and I would like to give my highest appreciation to the Ministry of Environment, along with the Papua Barat (West Papua), Teluk Bintuni and Fakfak Administrations for their efforts and cooperation in reaching this achievement. We look forward to receiving the remaining approvals from the Government to realize the project, which will bring significant benefit to Indonesia,? said Christina Verchere, BP Regional President Asia Pacific.

Tangguh LNG, located in Teluk Bintuni, Papua Barat province, is the third largest liquefied natural gas supply facility in Indonesia and the first fully combined upstream and downstream LNG operation in the country. The current operations comprise two identical LNG trains (Trains 1 and 2) with production capacity of 7.6 million tons per annum (mtpa). Tangguh Expansion Project will build on the established operations with a third LNG processing train (Train 3), bringing total project capacity to 11.4 mtpa.

The US$12 billion Tangguh Expansion Project will deliver significant value to the Indonesian government and will help meet the growing energy demand in Indonesia. As part of the expansion project, BP and its partners will supply 40 percent of the LNG output from Train 3 (1.5 mtpa) to Indonesia?s state electricity company PT. PLN (Persero) for the Indonesian domestic market.

Other key government approvals that are still in process are required to continue with the planning, design and procurement of the expansion project.

?We are engaging closely with SKK Migas, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources and other related government agencies to receive these critical approvals. We remain hopeful that they will be received soon," Christina said, referring to the upstream oil and gas authority.

Tangguh is operated by BP Berau Ltd. BP holds a 37.16 percent interest in the project. Other Tangguh contract partners are MI Berau B.V. (16.30%), CNOOC Muturi Ltd. (13.90%), Nippon Oil Exploration (Berau), Ltd. (12.23%), KG Berau/KG Wiriagar (10.00%), Indonesia Natural Gas Resources Muturi Inc. (7.35%), and Talisman Wiriagar Overseas Ltd. (3.06%).

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak