Giant Gas Discovery in Aceh, Government Pushes Pipeline Development
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) has accelerated the construction of the Dumai-Sei Mangkei (Dusem) gas transmission pipeline. This follows the discovery of a jumbo gas reserve in the Andaman Block, Aceh.
The infrastructure is being prepared so that gas production from Andaman can be directly delivered to various regions across Sumatra and up to Java.
The Director-General of Oil and Gas (Dirjen Migas) at the Ministry of ESDM, Laode Sulaeman, said the Dumai-Sei Mangkei pipeline has begun construction and is targeted to be completed before Andaman gas production commences.
He said the project is prepared to channel the substantial gas production from the Andaman Block, especially expected to start operating around 2028.
‘Our Dusem project has the Andaman block. The Andaman Block also contains a sizeable amount of gas there. It will be sent to Sumatra by pipeline,’ he said.
Laode explained that so far the gas pipeline network in southern Sumatra has not been connected, so the government decided to build this new segment.
‘So we will construct this pipeline; the plan is that the Andaman block can start around 2028, God willing. So we have prepared the pipeline to receive it,’ he added.
Earlier, Laode said the gas transmission pipeline would be built in an integrated manner from Aceh to East Java, creating a single main gas distribution corridor.
‘If you look at Indonesia’s western region, it will be completed with the transmission pipeline. So from Aceh to East Java will be completed with a single transmission pipeline,’ Laode said.
As part of this project, the Cirebon-Semarang transmission line segment, Cisem-1, was completed in 2023 and is currently delivering gas to the Batang Integrated Industrial Estate in Central Java. Next, the Cisem-2 pipeline has also officially begun operating recently and will deliver gas from East Java to West Java.
With the completion of these pipelines, including the Dumai-Sei Mangkei (Dusem) pipeline, the network will eventually channel one of the potential gas supplies from the Andaman Block, which has sizable reserves, through the transmission pipeline.
According to CNBC Indonesia records, the total budget for the Dumai-Sei Mangkei gas pipeline is Rp 6.6 trillion, and it will channel potential natural gas from the Agung and Andaman Working Areas in Aceh to be utilised in Java and Sumatra.