Tender deadline for Kalimantan-Java gas pipeline project extended
Thursday, April 27 2006 - 02:25 AM WIB
"The final day to return the bidding document should be on April 28, but BPH Migas has extended the deadline until May 31," corporate secretary of state owned gas utility Perusahaan Gas Negara (PGN), Widyatmoko Bapang, was quoted as saying.
BPH Migas had also returned the feasibility study document on the East Kalimantan-Central Java gas pipeline to PGN.
"It indicates the acknowledgment of BPH Migas that the feasibility study document is owned by PGN," he said. Earlier, PGN protested the agency for distributing the document to other bidders.
"The feasibility study which was made by the company in cooperation with US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) is PGN's property and should not be leaked to other bidders," a PGN executive had said.
PGN had threatened to pull out from the tender if BPH Migas did not return the feasibility study document.
"The extension of the tender deadline allows us to recalculate our bidding and prepare other strategies to win the project, Widyatmoko said.
PGN will, among others, compete with Bakrie and Brothers, Barata Indonesia, Bumi Karsa Lini Nusa and Alpha Kharisma Persada in the tender for the rights to build and operate the 1,219 kilometer undersea gas pipeline linking gas rich East Kalimantan and Central Java.
The government plans to build a 1,219 km-gas pipeline project from Bontang, East Kalimantan to Semarang in Central Java to meet the growing demand for gas supply in Java. The project which is estimated to cost about US$1.2 billion to build is expected to begin operation in 2009.
Separately, PGN director of development Adil Abas said has yet to decide whether it would submit the tender document for the project.
"We'll meet this Friday to make a decision," he told Petromindo.com Thursday. (Godang)