Pertamina to Complete Central Java FSRU

Retno Ayuningtyas

State oil and gas company Pertamina vowed to complete the floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) off the coast of Central Java even though the government has yet to decided whether to go ahead with the $300 million to $400 million project.

Evita Legowo, the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry’s director general for oil and gas said over the weekend that the government had not yet decided whether to postpone or reschedule the FSRU project that is expected to supply gas for state utility company PLN once completed.

“The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry will still discuss the project with the related sides. We will seek the best solution,” Evita said.

She said the ministry will still study whether there is still really a need for the FSRU. The study is expected to be completed sometime next week.

However Pertamina senior president for gas, Nanang Untung, said the company still wanted to complete the FSRU as scheduled by the second quarter of 2013 because it will supply gas for the TransJava pipeline handled by a Pertamina subsidiary, Pertamina Gas.

“For Pertamina, we are still hoping to continue to go on, to support the TransJava pipeline that is a strategic infrastructure to support the resilience in gas supply and equitable distribution in Java,” Nanang said.

Meanwhile, PLN’s head of fuel division, Suryadi Mardjoeki said that so far PLN did not yet need gas supplies from the FSRU. It currently has enough supply from the Kepodang field operated by Petronas Carigali, the Gundih field and the Cepu block.

From the three fields, PLN was obtaining a total of 366 million metric standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd).

Suryadi said the TransJava pipeline, a 140 kilometer line connecting the Muara Tawar steam fueled power plat in Bekasi, West Java, to Cirebon, also in West Java, should also be completed in time. The line will be connected to another 225 kilometer line that will connect Cirebon to Semarang in Central Java. The network will further be connected to a 271 kilometer pipeline connecting Semarang to Gresik in East Java.

He said that even though the FSRU project was not completed in time, the TransJava pipeline should be because it would be the main gas supply to PLN power plants.

“This pipeline will not only channel gas from the FSRU. In the grand scheme, all gas will be channeled into the pipeline as an open access network,” Suryadi said.

Pertamina Gas president, Gunung Sardjono Hadi said that the Central Java FSRU is one of three such units contained in a presidential instruction. However, because of the uncertainty revolving around the production of the Cepu Block, the project was put on hold.

He said that regardless of the amount of supply from the Cepu Block, the Central Java FSRU was important to complete.

“The Central Java gas industry will not develop if the Central Java FSRU is not built. We have already met with the central Java gas industry players and they have no objection to paying their gas in line with the LNG prices as long as the demand for supply can be met. We call for this project to be reactivated,” Gunung said.

He said if the government gave the go ahead, the FSRU could produce up to 1.5 and 3 million metric standard cubic feet per year of gas with an investment of between $300 and $400 million.

Pertamina Gas, he said, had already probed gas supplies from Qatar and other foreign producers, should local supply not be available.

Investor Daily