Hyundai wins gas platform project

Hyundai wins gas platform project

JAKARTA (JP): State oil and gas company Pertamina has
appointed a subsidiary of South Korea's contractor Hyundai Heavy
Engineering to build a US$129 million natural gas platform west
of the Natuna island chain.

Spokesman of Pertamina's foreign contractors management body
(BPPKA) Sidick Nitikusuma said on Monday that Hyundai, in a joint
venture with local company Citra Panji Manunggal, received the
recommendation from the West Natuna gas consortium to build the
facilities to exploit natural gas in the South China Sea.

Pertamina president Martiono Hadianto gave his approval on the
recommendation in a letter sent to the consortium last Thursday.

It is part of the multibillion dollar project to channel
natural gas to Singapore.

The consortium and Pertamina signed an agreement in January
this year to supply natural gas from West Natuna to Singapore's
Sembawang Gas (SembGas) for 22 years starting from 2001.

The West Natuna gas consortium named Hyundai to build the gas
platforms after an open tender in which its $129 million bid was
the lowest.

Also bidding were PT McDermott Indonesia, Brown and Road and
Gema Sembrown.

By regulation, the tender result has to be approved by
Pertamina's president.

The consortium also recommended PT McDermott Indonesia, a
subsidiary of American company McDermott Corp, in the
construction of the 650-kilometer (km) underwater pipeline to
channel natural gas from West Natuna to Singapore.

Conoco of the U.S., Britain's Premier Oil and Canada's Gulf
Resources are consortium members.

Sidick said Pertamina would decide whether to accept the
recommendation by early next month.

McDermott proposed the lowest bid at US$335 million for the
project, outdoing other firms including Saipam of Italy, ETPM of
France and Japan's Nippon Steel.

Several legislators have protested the recommendation, citing
the partnership of McDermott with former president Soeharto's
close associate Mohamad "Bob" Hasan. (jsk)