Arun work put on hold after bomb blast
Arun work put on hold after bomb blast
JAKARTA (JP): American oil and gas company PT ExxonMobil Oil
Indonesia Inc. has suspended works for the start-up of its Arun
gas fields in Aceh, following a bomb explosion at one of its gas
pipelines, an ExxonMobil official said on Tuesday.
ExxonMobil spokeswoman Julia Tumengkol said the company
suspended a section of its current repair works at its Arun gas
facilities.
"There is still some work going on at another section, but
we've decided to review the situation over there," she told The
Jakarta Post.
Early on Monday, a bomb exploded at one of Arun's pipelines
connecting the gas fields with the Arun liquefied natural gas
(LNG) plant.
The government has said the bomb exploded when soldiers were
combing the area along the pipeline as part of Arun's start-up
preparation.
According to the government, no casualties were reported in
the incident, but Julia said one of ExxonMobil's workers was
slightly injured.
"A van carrying our workers passed the bomb when it exploded,
one of the workers was hit by the bomb's shrapnel...it's a minor
injury and he's now back to work," she explained.
She said there were no plans yet to evacuate ExxonMobil's
employees again, after the company deployed 200 workers to Arun
last week.
ExxonMobil abandoned Arun in mid-March due to persistent
security threats by local armed groups, believed to be members of
the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).
In response, the government beefed up security at Arun's gas
fields though the measure didn't initially convince ExxonMobil
enough to return.
Only recently, the company agreed to return, on signs that
security was improving in its operation area.
Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro
said so far he had received no reports of ExxonMobil suspending
its preparation works at Arun.
To his knowledge, works were proceeding as scheduled.
"But what we need is still coordination, especially from the
armed forces because in this (security) matter they are
instrumental," Purnomo was quoted as saying by Antara on the
sidelines of a discussion with the House of Representatives
Commission VIII regarding the new oil and gas bill.
Nonetheless, he added the bomb blast prompted the government
to call an emergency meeting between the Indonesian military
(TNI), state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina and ExxonMobil.
"The result (of the meeting) will determine whether we'll
suspend the works or make some adjustments," he said but did not
elaborate what adjustments there could be.
Following ExxonMobil's more than three months absence, the
condition of the pipelines deteriorated sharply, he said earlier.
Most of the works were conducted to repair damage done to
these pipelines.
A delay in repair works would further set back Pertamina's
target to have the Arun LNG plant operating at full capacity by
the end of next month.
The state company had earlier estimated to start up Arun's gas
fields this week or early next month. But a meeting with
ExxonMobil last week pushed back the schedule to mid-July.
Pertamina must meet its contractual obligation of supplying
Japan and South Korea with LNG. So far, the company is able to
cover the shortage of LNG supplies from the Badak LNG plant in
Bontang, East Kalimantan.
By late July, however, Badak will no longer be able to meet
the two countries' LNG demand, as an expected surge in LNG demand
threatens to outstrip Badak's capacity.
Pertamina said it would need about one month after the gas
started flowing from Arun for the plant to start shipping out
LNG.(bkm)