Tangguh resumes LNG shipment to China

Tangguh LNG plant in Papua will soon resume its LNG cargo shipment to China?s province of Fujian after being halted due to damage in its refinery in August, Kontan reported on Saturday.

R. Priyono, the head of BP Migas, the regulatory for upstream oil and gas sector, said in Jakarta on Friday that the shipment from the Tangguh plant would be made within the next two weeks.

Tangguh shipped a cargo of LNG to Fujian in July, the first shipment from the country?s newly operated LNG plant. But the shipment from the plant was halted in August due to a technical problem in its Train I, the only processing facility has so far been operated.

The plant?s LNG export commitments have been fulfilled by the Arun LNG plant in Aceh and the Bontang LNG plant in East Kalimantan since then. As of September, as many as six cargoes of LNG have been shipped to China, South Korea and Mexico from Arun and Bontang plants.

Priyono said that Tangguh?s Train 1 which broke down in August due to a technical problem would resume operation in the middle of October. ?We hope the plant will be able to operate normally as expected,? he said.

The Tangguh LNG plant, which has a production capacity of 7.6 million tons a year, had cut its LNG delivery target to only 16 cargoes this year from 56 cargoes due to the halt in the Train 1?s operation.

Nico Canter, the country head of BP Indonesia, which operates the Tangguh LNG plant, hoped with the operation of the Train 1, the company would be able to meet delivery commitment for the rest of the year. (*)