Natuna leak halts gas supply
Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The natural gas supply from Natuna islands in the South China Sea to Singapore has been suspended following the discovery of a leak in the underwater pipeline.
It is still unclear how the incident will impact on the city state, which has increasingly become dependent on gas from Indonesia for its power and petrochemical plants, or whether Singapore will demand compensation from Indonesia.
Officials said the supply was suspended on Friday afternoon after a sharp drop of pressure inside the pipe indicated a leak at a location approximately 104 kilometers northwest of Matak island and 80 meters deep.
"We have yet to determine the cause of the leak, because we haven't seen the pictures taken by the divers yet," said Trijana Kartoatmodjo, deputy chairman of BP Migas, which oversees Indonesian upstream activities.
Trijana said that BP Migas had dispatched a team on Saturday morning to find the exact location of the leak in the 650- kilometer pipeline.
"We hope that we can finish repairing it on Monday, or Wednesday at the latest, so that the gas supply to Singapore will not be disturbed," he said.
Natural gas in the pipeline is sourced from ConocoPhilips' Natuna Offshore Block B, Premier Oil-operated Natuna Block A and Star Energy-operated Kakap block. Singapore's SembCorp. Gas uses the gas as feedstock for petrochemical plants and fuel for power plants.
Right now, Singapore can still use gas left in the pipeline, but Trijana did not disclose the amount of the residual gas and when it would run out.
Trijana said that until now Singapore had not filed any complaint. He added that BP Migas had notified Singapore to use the residual gas for petrochemical plants only, not for power plants, for the time being.
Under the 22-year contract signed in January 1999, gas supplies from West Natuna to Singapore will generate a total revenue of between US$6 billion to $7 billion for the Indonesian government.
A similar incident also happened on Aug. 5, 2002, when the gas supply from West Natuna to Singapore was disrupted by an automated computer system. It caused large parts of Singapore to suffer a blackout for one and half hours.
The West Natuna-Singapore pipeline is one of the world's longest underwater pipelines.