Marathon to buy LNG from RI firms
Marathon to buy LNG from RI firms
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
U.S. Marathon Oil Corporation has agreed to purchase liquefied
natural gas (LNG) from Indonesia's state-owned oil and gas
company Pertamina and private-owned PT Exspan Tomori Sulawesi,
according to a press release issued by the U.S. firm on Thursday.
The agreement was contained in an MoU signed by Marathon's
subsidiary, GNBC Ventas. Under this initial deal, Pertamina and
Exspan will supply 6 million metric tons of LNG per year for a
20-year period.
The LNG will be shipped from the proposed LNG plant in Central
Sulawesi to the Tijuana Regional Energy Center (which is
currently being developed) in Baja California, Mexico, by
Marathon and its co-participants.
"We are very pleased to have reached this agreement with
Pertamina and Exspan, as it represents another important step
forward in our Tijuana Regional Energy Center project," said
GNBC's managing director John S. Hattenberger.
The gas resources for the LNG facility will come from the
Matindok and Senoro-Toili blocks in Central Sulawesi. Matindok
block is operated by Pertamina, while the Senoro-Toili block is
jointly operated by Pertamina and Exspan, a subsidiary of local
oil and gas company PT Medco Energi International. These two
blocks are part of the Donggi gas field project in the province.
The Central Sulawesi LNG facility will be Indonesia's fourth
LNG center. The country currently has two LNG plants: one in
Bontang (East Kalimantan), and another in Arun (Aceh), which
together produce 31.6 million tons of LNG per year.
Another LNG center to be constructed next year in Tangguh
(Papua) will be the third LNG center. Anglo-American giant BP Plc
will operate the center in Tangguh.
Ridwan Nyak Baik, Pertamina's spokesman confirmed the LNG
supply deal.
"It's part of efforts to pave the way into the U.S. West Coast
(LNG) market," Ridwan told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
Pertamina said so far Donggi has proven natural gas reserves
of four trillion cubic feet (TCF).
Announced in 2002, the proposed Tijuana Regional Energy Center
is an integrated complex that will consist of an LNG offloading
terminal and a 750 million cubic feet (MMSCFD) per day
regasification plant.
It will also have a 1,200-megawatt power generation plant to
supply regional electricity needs; a 20-million gallon per day
seawater desalination plant to provide fresh water for the city
of Tijuana; wastewater treatment facilities, to augment the
existing processing capacity of the San Antonio de Los Buenos
treatment plant and related natural gas pipeline infrastructures.
Currently, GNBC and its affiliates are proceeding with the
necessary regulatory reviews and permits required by federal and
local authorities in Mexico.
The release said construction of the Tijuana Regional Energy
Center would begin in 2004, with start up expected in 2007 if
regulatory approvals and the execution of successful commercial
and financing plans can be obtained in time.