ExxonMobil has no fixed date for operation<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The government and state oil and gas company
\nPertamina voiced optimism that ExxonMobil Oil Indonesia Inc.
\nwould resume its gas operation in Aceh on Wednesday, but the unit
\nof American firm ExxonMobil Corp. again refused to give a fixed
\nschedule.<\/p>\n
Iin Arifin Takhyan, Pertamina's director for upstream
\noperations, said the latest technical preparations at the Arun
\ngas fields were proceeding much more smoothly compared to last
\nweek's work.<\/p>\n
\"We're convinced that the Arun gas fields will come back into
\noperation tomorrow (Wednesday),\" he said on the sidelines of a
\nseminar on the outlook of gas utilization in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro
\nalso said on Monday he was confident ExxonMobil would resume
\noperations on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Pertamina officials have announced several timetables for the
\nresumption of ExxonMobil's operation, but so far none of these
\ntimetables have been met.<\/p>\n
Iin said ExxonMobil would resume the operation of the gas
\nfields in Cluster Two in the first phase of the operation, which
\nwould be followed by the operation of the fields in the other
\nthree clusters. The company divide its gas fields into four
\nclusters.<\/p>\n
ExxonMobil was producing an average of 1.6 billion cubic feet
\nof gas and 30,000 barrels of condensate daily before it suspended
\noperations in mid-March.<\/p>\n
ExxonMobil spokeswoman Deva Rahman said the company had made
\ngood progress in repairing its facilities in selected work areas.<\/p>\n
\"However, we have not yet fixed a schedule for the resumption
\nof the gas operation,\" she told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
She said the resumption of the gas fields would not only be
\nbased on technical preparations, but also on the security
\nsituation.<\/p>\n
ExxonMobil has never given a fixed timetable for the
\nresumption of gas production at the field.<\/p>\n
Iin said the resumption of operations by ExxonMobil would
\nenable nearby liquefied natural gas (LNG) producer PT Arun NGL to
\nrestart its LNG production in late August.<\/p>\n
ExxonMobil supplies 90 percent of its natural gas production
\nto Arun NGL, while the remaining 10 percent is supplied to
\nfertilizer firms PT Pupuk Iskandar Muda and PT ASEAN Aceh
\nFertilizer, as well as pulp firm PT Kertas Kraft Aceh.<\/p>\n
Arun NGL, which relies on ExxonMobil for gas supplies, halted
\nits LNG production soon after ExxonMobil halted its gas
\nproduction.<\/p>\n
Arun NGL has suffered Rp 4 trillion (US$350.8 million) in
\nfinancial losses as a result of the halt in its production. It
\nhas failed to export 40 LNG shipments during the four-month
\nperiod since ExxonMobil's gas supply was halted.<\/p>\n
Indonesia has insisted ExxonMobil recommence its Aceh
\noperations promptly because LNG demand in North Asia is expected
\nto peak in the summer, and production at Pertamina's LNG center
\nin Bontang, East Kalimantan, will be insufficient to meet all of
\nPertamina's LNG supply commitments. (05)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/exxonmobil-has-no-fixed-date-for-operation-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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