ExxonMobil Oil to resume its operation Friday<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): State-owned oil and gas company Pertamina said
\non Wednesday ExxonMobil Oil Indonesia, a unit of the U.S.-based
\nExxon Mobil Corp., would resume its operations at the Arun gas
\nfields in Aceh on Friday, four months after the company was
\nforced to turn off its gas taps due to increasing security
\nthreats.<\/p>\n
Iin Arifin Takhyan, Pertamina's director for upstream
\noperations, said preparatory work for the resumption of
\noperations were nearly complete.<\/p>\n
\"ExxonMobil is still conducting some tests to see whether or
\nnot the wells still work properly. We expect the company to
\nrestart its operation in the next two days,\" Iin said.<\/p>\n
He made these comments following the presentation of an ISO
\n14001 certificate by German certification agency TUV Indonesia to
\nPertamina, for environmental management at its lube blending
\nplant in Cilacap, Central Java.<\/p>\n
Also present at the ceremony was TUV Indonesia president
\nMarkus Hattemer.<\/p>\n
The timetable given by Iin was the most specific since
\nExxonMobil halted the operation of its Arun gas fields in March.<\/p>\n
However, ExxonMobil spokesperson Julia Tumengkol declined to
\nconfirm Iin's statement.<\/p>\n
\"We cannot give any confirmation as our preparatory work is
\nstill underway. The problem is that we are evaluating the
\npreparatory work on a daily basis,\" she told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
ExxonMobil has never give a definite timetable on when it will
\nresume its operation. It hinted last Saturday that the resumption
\nof operations would take place within weeks.<\/p>\n
Iin said after ExxonMobil resumed operations at its gas
\nfields, the production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) at the
\nnearby PT Arun NGL would gradually resume. Arun NGL, which relies
\non ExxonMobil for gas supplies, halted its LNG production soon
\nafter ExxonMobil halted its gas production.<\/p>\n
He said ExxonMobil would initially resume operations at two
\nclusters, before including the other two clusters to reach a
\nnormal level of production.<\/p>\n
ExxonMobil groups its gas wells in the area in four clusters.
\nThe company was producing an average of 1.6 billion cubic feet of
\ngas and 30,000 barrels of condensate daily before it suspended
\noperations.<\/p>\n
Indonesia has insisted ExxonMobil restart its Aceh operations
\npromptly because LNG demand in North Asia is expected to peak in
\nthe summer, and production at Pertamina's other LNG center in
\nBontang, East Kalimantan, will be insufficient to meet all of
\nPertamina's LNG supply commitments.<\/p>\n
Following the shutdown of Arun NGL's LNG plant, Pertamina
\ntransferred the plant's LNG orders, mostly from Japanese and
\nSouth Korean buyers, to the Bontang LNG plant.<\/p>\n
But Pertamina president Baihaki Hakim said earlier the Bontang
\nLNG plant could only guarantee supplies to the buyers until the
\nend of June.<\/p>\n
Beyond June, he said, the Bontang LNG plant would no longer
\nhave excess supplies due to an increase in demand from its
\ncustomers.<\/p>\n
Indonesia lost US$10 million a month from March to May as a
\nresult of the halt of ExxonMobil's gas operations, according to
\nPertamina.<\/p>\n
Regarding the awarding of the ISO certificate, Iin said such
\ncertificates would be crucial in the near future as consumers
\nrequired good quality and environmentally friendly products.<\/p>\n
\"They (businesspeople) must seek certification for their
\nproducts if they want to survive the stiff competition of the
\ncoming free trade era,\" Iin said.<\/p>\n
\"We hope the presentation of the ISO 14001 certificate will
\nprompt other lube plants across the country to earn
\ncertification.\" (03\/bkm)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/exxonmobil-oil-to-resume-its-operation-friday-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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