Tangguh train 1 resumes operation

Upstream oil, gas regulator BPMIGAS said on Monday that the Train 1 of the Tangguh LNG plant in West Papua resumed operation on Sunday after months of stoppage.

?The operation of Train 1 will enable Tangguh to meet its supply commitment more smoothly,? BPMIGAS? Chairman R. Priyono said, adding that now both of Tangguh trains had been in operations.

Energy giant BP Plc, the Tangguh LNG plant operator, has signed multi-year contracts to supply LNG to several buyers, including with Korea?s POSCO and K-Power (for a total of 1.15 million tons of LMG per year) and CNOOC (for 2.6 million tons per year).

Head of Country BP Indonesia Nico Kanter said that Tangguh will re-start shipping cargoes before the end of the month.

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 problems Tangguh's two production units.

The newly-built Tangguh has sent three cargoes of LNG. In July, it sent one cargo to the LNG terminal in Fujian, China owned by CNOOC, a cargo to the LNG terminal in Gwangyang, South Korea owned by giant steel producer POSCO and another one cargo to LNG terminal in Baja California, Mexico owned by Sempra LNG. (kanti)