Update 1: SBY inaugurates Total?s $2b project in East Kalimantan
Total signs LNG agreement with Pertamina, PGN, and PLN
Friday, July 4 2008 - 08:12 AM WIB
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono inaugurated on Friday the new gas production facilities for the Sisi and Nubi fields, Mahakam PSC owned by French firm Total Indonesia E&P.
The inauguration ceremony was held in Senipah, Kutai Kartanegara regency, East Kalimantan.
Total has spent US$2 billion to develop the facilities with a production capacity of 350 million cubic feet per day (MMCFD) and 5,000 barrels of liquid.
?The gas supplies from Sisi and Nubi will enable Total to maintain its gas output at 2.6 BCFD (Billion cubic feet per day) until 2011,? Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro said during the ceremony.
Mahakam has been in production since 1970s. In the beginning, it produced oil but Total later focused on gas production following the discovery of considerable gas reserves in Tambora (1974), Tunu (1977), Peciko (1983), Peciko (1983), Sisi (1986) and Nubi (1992) fields, according to Indonesian Oil & Gas Book 2008 published by Petromindo.Com.
The block is now the major supplier of gas to the country?s largest Badak liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Bontang, East Kalimantan.
During the ceremony, the President also witnessed the signing of Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) between Total and the consortium of state owned firms PT Pertamina, PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) and PT Perusahaan Gas Negara (PGN) to supply LNG for the LNG receiving terminal to be built by the consortium in West Java.
?This is the first LNG agreement to be signed for the domestic market,? the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources said in a statement.
Indonesia has been producing LNG since late 1970s but all the products are exported.
The consortium plans to build an LNG receiving terminal in West Java to boost gas supplies for industries and power plants in Java. The region now gets supplies from Sumatra and offshore Java through pipeline.
The President also witnessed the signing of a Heads of Agreement (HoA) by Total and the electricity firm owned by Kutai Kartanegera regency. Total will supply 20 MMCFD for the power plant owned by the regency-owned firm.
During the ceremony, state owned electricity firm PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara also signed contracts with four consortiums for the construction of four coal fired power plants outside Java under the government?s 10,000 Megawatt (MW) fast track program.
The four power plants are the Bangka Belitung 3, South Kalimantan 2, Papua 2 and South Sulawesi. They will be built by four consortiums of Indonesian and Chinese companies. Total investments for the projects are US$350 million. (Alex)