Mobil builds offshore facility in Aceh to boost LNG supply
Mobil builds offshore facility in Aceh to boost LNG supply
JAKARTA (JP): Energy company Mobil Oil Indonesia Inc. has
completed a new offshore gas platform to boost supply at its
giant liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Arun, Aceh.
A spokesman for state oil and gas company Pertamina, Ramli
Djaafar, said on Tuesday the platform would be erected at the
North Sumatra Offshore "A" (NSO-A) block, situated in the Sumatra
Straits, 100 kilometers from the Arun LNG plant.
PT Tripatra, PT McDermott and Toyo Engineering built the
platform at Batam island, Riau.
Guests at last Wednesday's launching ceremony include
Pertamina's president Soegianto, Mobil Oil Indonesia president
and general manager Ron Wilson, Mobil Oil's exploration and
production head for the Asia-Pacific region Lance Johnson and
representatives of contractors.
"The platform will be placed at an offshore area of 354 feet
(100.7 meters) deep, which is the deepest water for any offshore
platform built in the country," Ramli said.
The platform weighs 7,000 tons and has processing capacity of
450 million cubic feet per day (MMSCFD) of natural gas.
Production at the platform is expected to start in the middle
of next year.
Ramli said Mobil was also developing onshore terminal
facilities to dispose sulfuric content of the natural gas
supplied from the NSO-A block.
Mobil found a reserve amounting to 14 trillion cubic feet of
natural gas and 950 million barrels of condensate at its Arun
contract area in 1971.
The company built a giant LNG plant in the area to supply
Japan and Korea, making its first shipment to Japan in 1977.
After decades of operation, the reserve at the Arun gas field
has dwindled, forcing Mobil to explore new gas reserves in
nearby areas to help the plant survive.
The company has also found gas reserves in the Pase-A gas
field and started production early this year.
It has also introduced a new technological innovation -- Under
Balance Drilling -- to maximize its gas production rate in the
Arun gas fields. (jsk)