UPDATE 1: Vessel carrying Bontang LNG leaving for Jakarta
Wednesday, April 25 2012 - 07:27 AM WIB
By Godang Sitompul
A vessel has departed from East Kalimantan carrying LNG from the Bontang LNG plant for the West Java Floating Storage and Regassification Unit (FSRU) operated by PT Nusantara Regas in the Jakarta Bay.
Total E&P Indonesie (TEPI), a subsidiary of French energy firm Total SA, said in a press statement that the tanker carrying the LNG, called Aquarius, left the Bontang port for the Jakarta Bay on Wednesday.
It is the first shipment of LNG to the country?s first floating LNG terminal, called either "West Java" or "Regas Satu" FSRU.
Nusantara Regas, which is a joint venture between two state owned firms, namely oil and gas firm PT Pertamina (60 percent) and gas distributor PT Perusahaan Gas Negara (PGN), leases the FSRU from Norwegian firm Golar LNG Energy Limited for approximately 11 years with automatic conditional contractual extension options up to 2025. The vessel was initially used as an oil tanker but it has been converted by Golar into an floating LNG terminal at the Jurong shipyard in Singapore.
The FSRU departed from Singapore for Jakarta Bay on April 15. It will be installed 15 km offshore Muara Karang in North Jakarta.
Karen Agustiawan, President Director of Pertamina, said the operation of the FSRU will become an important milestone in fulfilling domestic demand for gas. With the maximum capacity of 3 million tons (Mt) of LNG annually, the FSRU will supply a combined 400 mmscfd of gas to the PLTGU Muara Karang and PLTGU Tanjung Priok combined cycle power plants in North Jakarta, owned by state owned electricity firm PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN).
"With this FSRU, Nusantara Regas will be able to fulfill the gas supply commitment to PLN of 1.5 million tons LNG annually," she said.
TEPI, which along with Japanese firm INPEX Corporation, owns the Mahakam PSC, which is the main supplier of gas to the Bontang LNG plant, claimed the shipment of LNG to the FSRU to be a new milestone for the company?s decades-long operation in Indonesia.
?Total E&P Indonesie for the first time supplies gas in (the form of) LNG to the West Java FSRU? This floating LNG terminal is the first LNG receiving terminal has been built in Indonesia in order to increase gas supply to meet domestic demand," Elisabeth Proust, President Director and General Manager of Total E&P Indonesie, said in the statement.
TEPI and INPEX will supply a total of 11.75 Mt of gas in the form of LNG over a contractual period of 2012-2022, according to her.
?Discussions in respect of this LNG supply agreement started in 2008 and Total E & P Indonesie is pleased to witness the realization of an important milestone in the national gas infrastructure development and to play an important role in this national project as the first Indonesian gas producer to commit LNG supply for the growing national energy demand?, she said.
The commencement of LNG supply to the FSRU will raise Mahakam PSC?s contribution to the domestic market beyond 2012 to above 25 percent of its production level, she said.
?This shows once again the commitment of Total and Inpex to support the national energy program aiming at increased gas supply to the Indonesian domestic market. It will also largely contribute to the Government of Indonesia?s objective to convert from fuel oil to gas for power generation,? she said.
Editing by Johannes Simbolon