Tangguh Train 3 struggling to find buyers

By Febry silaban

A senior governmental official indicated on Wednesday the Tangguh consortium led by British firm BP Plc is struggling to find enough contract buyers for the LNG from the third train they plan to build at the Tangguh LNG plant in West Papua.

The total volume covered in the contracts they have clinched amounts to less than 40 percent of the total capacity of Tangguh Train 3, according to Director General of Oil and Gas IGN Wiratmaja.

?The government has required that a minimum of 40 percent of the capacity should be allocated for the domestic market. In reality, the contractual volume that has been clinched is still less than 40 percent,? Wiratmaja said, without providing specific figures.

Wiratmaja speculated this happened because there are now ample supplies of LNG worldwide.

Still, the government will push for the realization of the Train 3 project with priority given to the domestic market, he said, while noting that the domestic demand for gas is still weak due to the lack of infrastructures.

Train 3 is designed with a capacity of 3.8 mtpa, which will bring the total capacity of Tangguh LNG plant to 11.4 mtpa. Last April, Dharmawan Samsu at BP Indonesia was quoted by Reuters as saying 1.3 mtpa of the capacity remains unsold, making it difficult for the firm to raise financing for the project.

Editing by Johannes Simbolon