Gas supply hoped to resume Tuesday afternoon
Gas supply hoped to resume Tuesday afternoon
Sandy Darmosumarto
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta
A ship sent to repair the leaking 650-kilometer pipeline that
supplies natural gas from the Natuna islands in the South China
Sea to Singapore is expected to arrive at the site of the leak
late on Monday night.
"We have not yet repaired the leak," said Trijana
Kartoatmodjo, deputy chairman of Indonesian oil and gas regulator
BP Migas. "Repair crews will not be able to do any work at night.
The crew will start diving tomorrow morning (Tuesday)."
The leak is located 80 meters beneath the sea at a location
approximately 104 kilometers northwest of Matak island. Trijana
said the cause of the leak had still not been determined, but
that BP Migas intended to resume the gas supply as soon as
possible.
"Supply could partially resume tomorrow afternoon," Trijana
told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
Offshore gas producers ConocoPhilips, Star Energy and Premier
Oil have a 22-year contract to supply some 350 million standard
cubic feet of natural gas per day to Singapore through the 28-
inch diameter pipeline from West Natuna to the city-state.
Corporate natural gas buyers in Singapore include Sembawang
Corp. Gas and Island Power Co., which retail the gas as feedstock
for petrochemical plants and fuel for power plants.
Previous reports indicated that the Singaporean customers were
able to use the remaining gas in the pipeline. In addition,
Trijana had asked corporate gas customers in the city-state to
use the gas only for petrochemical plants and not for power
plants.
It is estimated that the gas supply contract will generate
total revenue of between US$6 billion to $7 billion for the
Indonesian government over the duration of the 22-year contract.
Meanwhile, Dow Jones reported that three major power companies
in Singapore -- Senoko Power, PowerSeraya and Tuas Power -- were
now using more steam and diesel to make up for the shortfall in
the West Natuna gas supply.
The newswire quoted industry sources as saying that this was
expected to push the Singapore wholesale electricity pool price
huger in the term because of higher fuel oil and diesel costs
compared with gas.
About 60 percent of Singapore's current power generation
capacity is made up of thermal units running on fuel oil and
diesel, with the remaining 40 percent gas-fired units, but the
actual power production ratio is the reverse.