Natuna offshore facilities tenders called by year's end<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (AFP): Tenders for building offshore facilities for
\nIndonesia's mammoth Natuna natural gas project are expected to be
\ncalled by the end of the year, an official with Indonesia's
\nstate-owned oil company Pertamina said here yesterday.<\/p>\n
\"At the end of this year, we hope to call tenders for the
\nconstruction of the platforms, fabrication works, pipelines and
\nother works,\" said G.A.S. Nayoan, senior executive vice-president
\nof the Natuna project, which has the world's largest liquefied
\nnatural gas (LNG) reserves.<\/p>\n
Tenders for the conceptual engineering design for up to six of
\nthe 16 platforms planned under the project had already been
\ncalled in April this year, he said when fielding questions from
\nthe floor at an industry conference.<\/p>\n
Nayoan told AFP that the tendering process at the end of the
\nyear was a milestone because \"it shows that we are committed to
\nthe project and the project is going on.\"<\/p>\n
The offshore facilities for the project are expected to
\ninclude six treating platforms, six drilling platforms and four
\ninjection platforms.<\/p>\n
Earlier reports had said that each of the treating platforms
\nwould be among the largest offshore platforms ever built.<\/p>\n
Work on the US$42-billion Natuna project, to be jointly
\ndeveloped by Pertamina and U.S. oil giant Exxon, is scheduled to
\nstart in January 1997.<\/p>\n
The gas-rich Natuna islands in the South China Sea have an
\nestimated 210 trillion cubic feet of gas, of which 45 trillion
\ncubic feet are recoverable.<\/p>\n
Nayoan said that efforts would be made to reduce the cost of
\nthe project, whose 1995 estimate was only \"$20 billion based on a
\nzero percent increase in the consumer price index.\"<\/p>\n
Industry sources say the $42-billion price tag for the project
\nwas based on a long-term projection that includes inflation.<\/p>\n
\"We are going to reduce the cost of the project, we will like
\nto have it very low but it cannot be too low, you see, because we
\ndon't want to lose quality,\" Nayoan said.<\/p>\n
He said that cost reduction was a task that should be
\nshouldered by all players in the liquefied natural gas chain --
\nthose in the upstream, downstream and transport businesses.<\/p>\n
\"The cost reduction attitude will keep the upstream, the
\ndownstream and the very downstream hydrocarbon industry in the
\nbright sunshine of a sunshine industry,\" Nayoan said.<\/p>\n
Indonesia together with Malaysia and Brunei are among the
\nthree major Southeast Asian producers of natural gas and they
\nexport the bulk of the commodity as LNG to Japan, South Korea and
\nTaiwan.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/natuna-offshore-facilities-tenders-called-by-years-end-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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