Natuna LNG to come on stream in 2004
Natuna LNG to come on stream in 2004
JAKARTA (JP): The first two production trains of the Natuna
liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in the South China Sea are
expected to come on stream at the end of 2004, Pertamina's
president Faisal Abda'oe said yesterday.
"It will be expanded to six trains with a total capacity of 15
million tons of LNG per annum," Abda'oe told an international
business meeting in Singapore.
To support that level of production in Natuna, both offshore
and onshore facilities have to be constructed, he said in his
speech, a copy was made available to the Jakarta Post yesterday.
He said that the offshore facilities would include six
treating platforms, six drilling platforms, two quarters
platforms and four injection platforms.
He said the project will cost about US$20 billion, consisting
of $13 billion for offshore facilities and drilling and $7
billion for pipelines.
He said that the Natuna project will be developed in stages
and that all six trains are planned to operate for 30 years.
Pertamina, the state oil and gas company, currently operates
12 LNG production trains, consisting of six trains in Bontang,
East Kalimantan, and a further six trains in Arun, Aceh, with a
total capacity of about 28 million tons per annum.
Abda'oe said the Natuna project is expected to help narrow the
gap between LNG supply and demand in the Asia-Pacific region.
He said the gap between the region's supply and demand is
likely to reach 35 million tons in the year 2000 and 70 million
tons in 2010.
He said LNG demand in the region will grow from about 75
million tons in 2000 to about 140 million tons in 2010.
Abda'oe said he expected Japan would remain the biggest LNG
buyer in the world. In 1994, Japan imported some 42 million tons
of LNG, 44 percent of which was supplied by Indonesia.
He added that Japanese LNG demand is expected to grow from
about 54 million tons in 2000 to 70 million tons in 2010.
LNG demand in South Korea, the second-biggest LNG importer in
the region, will grow from 13 million tons in 2000 to 21 million
tons in 2010, he said, while Taiwanese demand will grow from
seven million tons to 12 million tons.
China, Thailand and India are likely to become new LNG markets
in Asia, with projected total demand of about 17 million tons by
2005, he added. (04)