Bomb explodes at ExxonMobil gas field

JAKARTA (JP): A bomb exploded early Monday at one of Arun's gas pipelines in Aceh as soldiers secured the territory along the pipeline, the government said, but adding the incident would not cause a delay in Arun's start up schedule.

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro said that no casualties were reported in the explosion and that the pipeline suffered no damages from the blast.

"The only thing that got hit was a car that passed by," Purnomo said on the sideline of a hearing with the House of Representatives' Commission VIII, to discuss the new oil and gas bill.

According to him, the bomb was an old one, a leftover belonging to the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), who, he said, had no intention of blowing it up on Monday.

Purnomo said soldiers stumbled upon the bomb when they were combing the territory along the some 60 kilometers-long pipeline connecting Arun's gas fields with the Arun liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant.

Despite the incident, he continued, preparations at the Arun gas fields would go ahead for a start up at mid July.

"We have to face it, it (the incident) is part of the preparation; preparation isn't just opening a tap and let the gas flow," he said.

A team of some 200 ExxonMobil workers are in Arun to prepare the start up of the gas fields. The fields have been left unattended for over three months.

Purnomo said that initial reports placed the conditions of the ExxonMobil's gas facilities as very poor.

ExxonMobil pulled out from Arun due to security threats, believed to have come from GAM members.

GAM spokesman Sofyan Daud denied the allegation that the group was responsible for the blast.

According to him, it was impossible for his men to place the bomb inside the pipeline's vicinity, as the area was tightly guarded.

Separately, Coordinating Minister for Political, Social and Security Affairs Agum Gumelar said he had no plans to send enforcement to Arun.

"What we really want is to reduce the soldiers in the province," he said. (bkm/emf/50/dja)