Govt appoints IKPT to build new LNG unit
Govt appoints IKPT to build new LNG unit
JAKARTA (JP): The government has appointed PT Inti Karya Persada Teknik (IKPT) to build a US$900-million liquefied natural gas (LNG) production train at Pertamina's Bontang plant in East Kalimantan, Pertamina confirmed yesterday.
"The contract for the train's construction is now being tendered and the winner will be officially announced later this month," Pertamina spokesman Sidik Nitikusuma told The Jakarta Post.
He said the train, to be called Train-H, will have an annual capacity of 2.93 million tons of LNG, which will be sold to Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.
Sidik added that the construction of Train-H, the eighth production unit in Bontang, is scheduled to start early next year and the new unit is slated to come on stream in 1998.
Train-H will increase the Bontang plant's total production capacity to 21.6 million tons per year, he added.
State-owned oil and gas company Pertamina currently operates six LNG trains in Bontang and another six in Arun, Aceh, with a combined capacity of 26 million tons per year. All of the LNG produced is exported to Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.
Pertamina is currently constructing its seventh train (Train- G) in Bontang, which is scheduled to come on stream in November 1977 with an annual capacity of 2.5 million tons.
Train-G is also being built by IKPT, a private engineering company controlled by timber tycoon Mohammad Hasan.
Meanwhile, a reliable source said that Pertamina president Faisal Abda'oe will sign a loan agreement with the Export Import Bank of Japan, the Bank of Korea and the Bank of Taiwan on Dec. 19 in Taipei for the financing of the Train-H construction.
"Pak Abda'oe left for Taiwan yesterday to attend an energy meeting and also to sign the loan agreement," the source said yesterday.
Last October Pertamina signed a new 20-year contract with the Chinese Petroleum Corporation of Taiwan worth $6 billion to supply 1.84 million tons of LNG per year.
On Aug. 12 the company signed a third contract with the Korean Gas Corporation of South Korea worth $3.34 billion to supply one million tons of LNG per year for 20 years. The contract is to take effect as of 1998.
On Aug. 3, Pertamina signed an extension LNG contract with six Japanese LNG buyers, comprised of Chubu Electric, Kansai Electric, Kyushu Electric, Nippon Steel, Osaka Gas and Toho Gas.
Indonesia is the world's biggest LNG exporter with total exports of 26 million tons per year. Japan is Indonesia's LNG biggest buyer, followed by South Korea and Taiwan.(04)