ExxonMobil assess situation in Aceh

ExxonMobil assess situation in Aceh

JAKARTA (JP): U.S. oil and gas company ExxonMobil Oil
Indonesia Inc. has sent a team to Aceh to assess whether security
has improved enough for it to resume operations, an executive at
Pertamina said on Tuesday.

The state oil and gas company's director for production
sharing partners, Iin Arifin Takhyan, said ExxonMobil wanted to
double check Pertamina's statement that it was safe for the
company to resume its operation in Aceh.

"They (ExxonMobil) want to make their own assessment to see
things from their point of view," Iin said.

He confirmed earlier remarks by another Pertamina official
that security in Aceh had improved enough for ExxonMobil to
return.

But because Pertamina and ExxonMobil have a different view of
what constitute a safe environment, he said, the American company
needs assurances from their own observations.

"ExxonMobil wants to make sure that once it has entered Aceh,
it won't be forced out again," Iin explained.

ExxonMobil suspended its gas operation in Aceh in early March
because of continued harassment by armed groups, believed to be
local rebel forces.

The halt in the company's operation cut off the natural gas
supply to the nearby liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant of PT Arun
NGL Corp. and cause the suspension of LNG exports to Japan and
South Korea.

Arun has been able to meet its export commitments to the two
countries with surplus LNG from the Bontang plant in East
Kalimantan.

However, Bontang's LNG surplus is expected to be depleted by
June, after which Japan and South Korea will have to rely on
other gas producers.

Indonesia risks losing some US$100 million in LNG exports a
month if ExxonMobil's suspension of operation goes beyond June.

According to Iin, a meeting between ExxonMobil and Pertamina
this Friday will determine whether the company will resume
operations.

ExxonMobil spokesman Julia Tumengkol, however, was unable to
confirm the planned meeting on Friday, saying she had heard
nothing about such a meeting.

She further said the company evaluated Aceh's security
situation on an ongoing bases. "We already have a team down here
that is studying the security situation," she told The Jakarta
Post.

Julia said the company relied on security reports from aerial
photographs, its own employees and the military.

ExxonMobil has dispatched a team to prepare an operation
start-up should the company give the go-ahead.

Pertamina estimated that ExxonMobil would need two weeks to
begin supplying natural gas to Arun. It would then take Arun
another week to begin producing LNG.(bkm)