Arun work put on hold after bomb blast<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): American oil and gas company PT ExxonMobil Oil
\nIndonesia Inc. has suspended works for the start-up of its Arun
\ngas fields in Aceh, following a bomb explosion at one of its gas
\npipelines, an ExxonMobil official said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
ExxonMobil spokeswoman Julia Tumengkol said the company
\nsuspended a section of its current repair works at its Arun gas
\nfacilities.<\/p>\n
\"There is still some work going on at another section, but
\nwe've decided to review the situation over there,\" she told The
\nJakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Early on Monday, a bomb exploded at one of Arun's pipelines
\nconnecting the gas fields with the Arun liquefied natural gas
\n(LNG) plant.<\/p>\n
The government has said the bomb exploded when soldiers were
\ncombing the area along the pipeline as part of Arun's start-up
\npreparation.<\/p>\n
According to the government, no casualties were reported in
\nthe incident, but Julia said one of ExxonMobil's workers was
\nslightly injured.<\/p>\n
\"A van carrying our workers passed the bomb when it exploded,
\none of the workers was hit by the bomb's shrapnel...it's a minor
\ninjury and he's now back to work,\" she explained.<\/p>\n
She said there were no plans yet to evacuate ExxonMobil's
\nemployees again, after the company deployed 200 workers to Arun
\nlast week.<\/p>\n
ExxonMobil abandoned Arun in mid-March due to persistent
\nsecurity threats by local armed groups, believed to be members of
\nthe Free Aceh Movement (GAM).<\/p>\n
In response, the government beefed up security at Arun's gas
\nfields though the measure didn't initially convince ExxonMobil
\nenough to return.<\/p>\n
Only recently, the company agreed to return, on signs that
\nsecurity was improving in its operation area.<\/p>\n
Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro
\nsaid so far he had received no reports of ExxonMobil suspending
\nits preparation works at Arun.<\/p>\n
To his knowledge, works were proceeding as scheduled.<\/p>\n
\"But what we need is still coordination, especially from the
\narmed forces because in this (security) matter they are
\ninstrumental,\" Purnomo was quoted as saying by Antara on the
\nsidelines of a discussion with the House of Representatives
\nCommission VIII regarding the new oil and gas bill.<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, he added the bomb blast prompted the government
\nto call an emergency meeting between the Indonesian military
\n(TNI), state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina and ExxonMobil.<\/p>\n
\"The result (of the meeting) will determine whether we'll
\nsuspend the works or make some adjustments,\" he said but did not
\nelaborate what adjustments there could be.<\/p>\n
Following ExxonMobil's more than three months absence, the
\ncondition of the pipelines deteriorated sharply, he said earlier.<\/p>\n
Most of the works were conducted to repair damage done to
\nthese pipelines.<\/p>\n
A delay in repair works would further set back Pertamina's
\ntarget to have the Arun LNG plant operating at full capacity by
\nthe end of next month.<\/p>\n
The state company had earlier estimated to start up Arun's gas
\nfields this week or early next month. But a meeting with
\nExxonMobil last week pushed back the schedule to mid-July.<\/p>\n
Pertamina must meet its contractual obligation of supplying
\nJapan and South Korea with LNG. So far, the company is able to
\ncover the shortage of LNG supplies from the Badak LNG plant in
\nBontang, East Kalimantan.<\/p>\n
By late July, however, Badak will no longer be able to meet
\nthe two countries' LNG demand, as an expected surge in LNG demand
\nthreatens to outstrip Badak's capacity.<\/p>\n
Pertamina said it would need about one month after the gas
\nstarted flowing from Arun for the plant to start shipping out
\nLNG.(bkm)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/arun-work-put-on-hold-after-bomb-blast-1447893297",
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