Pertamina may build new plant in Donggi

Leony Aurora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

State oil and gas firm PT Pertamina may build a petrochemical plant to make use of gas production from the Donggi field in Central Sulawesi, a top executive says.

Iran is one of the countries interested in helping build the petrochemical complex, Pertamina's vice president Mustiko Saleh said on Tuesday.

"We wanted to convert the gas there (in Donggi) into liquefied natural gas (LNG)," he said. "But I think petrochemicals would be more profitable."

According to Mustiko, Donggi has proven reserves of 2.1 trillion cubic feet of gas (tcf). Pertamina would be drilling to find more gas, hoping to raise the reserves to 3.5 tcf, he added.

Malaysia's state oil company Petroliam Nasional Bhd. (Petronas) dropped its plan to build an LNG plant near Donggi as the gas reserves in the field fell short of its requirements, Pertamina said in April.

Pertamina, which partnered up with Petronas to develop the plant, delayed marketing gas from Matindok's Donggi field in May 2003 after test wells showed less gas than estimated.

The company said it needed to find at least 9 tcf before it could start building the plant.

According to its website, Pertamina produces 225,000 tons of purified terephthalic acid (PTA), the main raw material for the polyester fiber thread used in textiles, at its Plaju plant. It also produces, among other things, polypropylene -- used to make plastic goods -- benzene and propylene.