All Arun gas fields now in full operation

All Arun gas fields now in full operation

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

All of the Arun gas fields in the troubled province of Aceh
operated by American oil and gas firm ExxonMobil Oil Indonesia
Inc. have resumed full operation following the reopening of the
Pase field on Monday evening.

"The last field, Pase, resumed operation on Monday evening at
6.30 p.m. with gas production at 25 million cubic feet per day
(mcfd).

"On Tuesday, we expect production to increase to 50 mcfd and
we will gradually increase Pase field's output similar to its
previous production of 100 mcfd," the spokesman for state-owned
oil and gas company Pertamina's production sharing management
directorate, Sidick Nitikusuma told the Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

At present, ExxonMobil was producing a total 1.506 billion
cubic feet per day (bcfd) of gas from Arun and other fields, he
added.

Prior to the Arun closure in March last year, ExxonMobil
produced 1.6 bcfd of gas and 30,000 barrels of condensate per
day.

ExxonMobil shut down its Arun gas fields in mid-March last
year on security fears arising from the enduring armed conflict
between local rebels and the government's police and military.

The company reopened several of Arun's gas fields in mid-July,
and gas production from the fields has since continuously
increased.

The resumption of Arun operations has enabled the nearby
liquefied natural gas (LNG) producer PT Arun NGL Co. to
recommence LNG production last August and resume exports to South
Korea and Japan.

ExxonMobil supplies about 90 percent of its gas production to
the Arun LNG plant and the remaining 10 percent to fertilizer
firms PT Pupuk Iskandar Muda and PT ASEAN Aceh Fertilizer (AAF),
as well as pulp firm PT Kertas Kraft Aceh.