Japan Tohoku, Pertamina to finalize Arun LNG shipment

Japan Tohoku, Pertamina to finalize Arun LNG shipment

TOKYO (Dow Jones): Japan's Tohoku Electric Power Co. said
Friday that it will soon finalize with Indonesia's state-owned
Pertamina an offloading schedule for liquefied natural gas
cargoes from Indonesia's Arun terminal.

"We have received an offer from Pertamina regarding the timing
of (LNG) shipments from September on," a spokesman for Tohoku
Electric said. He said both parties will discuss the matter next
week or later.

In its latest offer, Pertamina didn't indicate the volume of
LNG it can sell to Tohoku Electric in September, the spokesman
said.

After a 4-month shutdown of natural gas fields at the site due
to security concerns in Aceh province, Exxon Mobil Corp.'s
Indonesian unit, ExxonMobil Indonesia Inc., which is the sole
natural gas operator at the site, resumed pumping natural gas
mid-July.

Tokyo Electric Power Co., or Tepco, is to take what will be
the first LNG export from Arun since mid-March. A Tepco spokesman
said Friday that the company will lift a 55,000-metric-ton cargo
Saturday as scheduled.

Tepco imports 510,000 tons a year of Arun LNG on a free-on-
board basis under a long-term contract with Pertamina.

Tohoku Electric, which buys a much larger volume of 3 million
tons/year of Arun LNG from Pertamina, has already secured
alternative LNG cargoes from other supply sources to cover its
requirements to the end of September.

The Tohoku Electric spokesman said the company will arrange
its LNG import schedule so that it won't have to take excess
volume in September.