Natuna leak halts gas supply<\/p>\n
Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The natural gas supply from Natuna islands in the South China
\nSea to Singapore has been suspended following the discovery of a
\nleak in the underwater pipeline.<\/p>\n
It is still unclear how the incident will impact on the city
\nstate, which has increasingly become dependent on gas from
\nIndonesia for its power and petrochemical plants, or whether
\nSingapore will demand compensation from Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Officials said the supply was suspended on Friday afternoon
\nafter a sharp drop of pressure inside the pipe indicated a leak
\nat a location approximately 104 kilometers northwest of Matak
\nisland and 80 meters deep.<\/p>\n
"We have yet to determine the cause of the leak, because we
\nhaven't seen the pictures taken by the divers yet," said Trijana
\nKartoatmodjo, deputy chairman of BP Migas, which oversees
\nIndonesian upstream activities.<\/p>\n
Trijana said that BP Migas had dispatched a team on Saturday
\nmorning to find the exact location of the leak in the 650-
\nkilometer pipeline.<\/p>\n
"We hope that we can finish repairing it on Monday, or
\nWednesday at the latest, so that the gas supply to Singapore will
\nnot be disturbed," he said.<\/p>\n
Natural gas in the pipeline is sourced from ConocoPhilips'
\nNatuna Offshore Block B, Premier Oil-operated Natuna Block A and
\nStar Energy-operated Kakap block. Singapore's SembCorp. Gas uses
\nthe gas as feedstock for petrochemical plants and fuel for power
\nplants.<\/p>\n
Right now, Singapore can still use gas left in the pipeline,
\nbut Trijana did not disclose the amount of the residual gas and
\nwhen it would run out.<\/p>\n
Trijana said that until now Singapore had not filed any
\ncomplaint. He added that BP Migas had notified Singapore to use
\nthe residual gas for petrochemical plants only, not for power
\nplants, for the time being.<\/p>\n
Under the 22-year contract signed in January 1999, gas
\nsupplies from West Natuna to Singapore will generate a total
\nrevenue of between US$6 billion to $7 billion for the Indonesian
\ngovernment.<\/p>\n
A similar incident also happened on Aug. 5, 2002, when the gas
\nsupply from West Natuna to Singapore was disrupted by an
\nautomated computer system. It caused large parts of Singapore to
\nsuffer a blackout for one and half hours.<\/p>\n
The West Natuna-Singapore pipeline is one of the world's
\nlongest underwater pipelines.<\/p>",
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