Arun suffers Rp 4t in losses due to ExxonMobil closure
Arun suffers Rp 4t in losses due to ExxonMobil closure
JAKARTA (JP): Aceh-based liquefied natural gas (LNG) producer
PT Arun NGL said it suffered some Rp 4 trillion (US$350.8
million) in losses due to the four-month closure of ExxonMobil's
gas fields in the troubled province.
The vice president of PT Arun, Hasan Saad, said on Friday the
losses were due to the firm's failure to export some 40 LNG
shipments following the closure of ExxonMobil's gas fields.
"The longer ExxonMobil's gas fields do not operate, the
greater the losses we will suffer," he was quoted by Bisnis
Indonesia as saying.
He added that the company would not come close to meeting this
year's target of delivering 116 LNG shipments, or about 23.5
million metric tons of LNG.
The Arun plant stopped its LNG shipments after its natural gas
supplier, ExxonMobil Oil Indonesia Inc., the Indonesian unit of
American oil and gas giant ExxonMobil Corp., suspended operations
in Lhokseumawe, Aceh, in March due to security concerns in the
province.
ExxonMobil supplies 90 percent of its natural gas production
to PT Arun, which exports a large part of its LNG to Japan and
South Korea.
The other 10 percent is supplied to fertilizer firms PT Pupuk
Iskandar Muda and PT ASEAN Aceh Fertilizer (AAF), as well as pulp
firm PT Kertas Kraft Aceh.
Hasan said the Arun plant was now only capable of keeping its
machinery running to avoid any damage, using gas supplied from
offshore gas fields in North Sumatra.
"But this gas can't serve as a substitute for the gas from
ExxonMobil (as the raw material for LNG production) because they
have different qualities," he said.
He expected ExxonMobil would begin operations at its gas
fields as soon as possible.
ExxonMobil spokeswoman Deva Rachman was quoted as saying in a
report late last week that the company still hoped to resume
production "as soon as possible", but could not give an exact
timetable.
Separately, AAF said it had suffered Rp 264 billion in losses
due to the closure of ExxonMobil's gas fields.
"We really depend on the ExxonMobil gas fields," company
spokesman Badruddin said.
AAF produced 587,055 tons of fertilizer last year, of which 99
percent, or 567,027 tons, was exported. (05)