Arun gas output back to normal

Leony Aurora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Gas output in the Arun field, operated by oil and gas company PT ExxonMobil Oil Indonesia (EMOI), in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, has returned to normal following a leak discovered in a pipeline last week.

Company spokeswoman Deva Rachman said on Sunday that the field was back in full swing starting on Saturday evening, three days after gas flow was cut to 300 million standard cubic feet a day (mmscfd) as repairmen rushed to the leakage site.

Before the incident, the pipeline transported up to 600 mmscfd.

"There is no impact on LNG schedules," said Deva, referring to the liquefied natural gas produced by the Indonesian branch of U.S. energy giant ExxonMobil.

Hundreds of residents of North Aceh regency, which the condensate pipeline passes through, evacuated their houses after news of the gas leak spread through the area, sparking panic. The leak was reported by a resident who smelled a foul odor near the pipeline between Cluster-3 and Cluster-4 in the field.

Although EMOI only asked four families living nearest to the site to move to temporary accommodation, dozens of other families followed suit.

"Most residents have returned to their homes," said Deva.

However, it was unclear whether families living near the leak site had been permitted to go home.

Deva added that experts were still investigating the cause of the incident.

"The EMOI response team has contained the leaks from the condensate pipeline," she said. "The team is remaining on site to do all necessary work to make sure there will be no further impact on the environment or community," she said.

EMOI is currently the sole natural gas producer in Aceh. Its output is largely transported to Arun, the country's oldest LNG plant, to be converted into LNG and then exported.

According to Bloomberg data, in 2003, the company provided about 1.5 billion standard cubic feed per day of gas to PT Arun.

However, gas output from the aging field has been declining over the past few years, which has forced the government to reschedule LNG shipments to its main buyers such as Japan, South Korea and Taiwan this year.

In August of 2003, EMOI had to close its operations temporarily when a fire broke out as a result of a grenade explosion.

North Aceh is one of the districts most affected by the activities of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

Two other large natural gas fields in Indonesia are Bontang in East Kalimantan and Tangguh in Papua -- the latter is yet to start production.