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.